The Earth's Mantle Is Most of the Planet
A mantle is a cloak, or a layer covering something. Geology's mantle makes up the great bulk of the earth.
A mantle is a loose cloak, and by extension any covering layer. Geology gave it the largest job: the earth's mantle lies between crust and core and accounts for roughly eighty per cent of the planet's volume. The figurative sense — taking up the mantle of a predecessor — comes from the biblical passing of Elijah's cloak to Elisha.
- A cloak. *A woollen mantle.*
- A covering layer. *A mantle of snow.*
- The earth's middle layer. *The upper mantle.*
- Take up the mantle — assume a role. *He took up the mantle.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | mantle | A heavy mantle. |
| Plural | mantles | Two mantles. |
| Verb | mantle | Mantled in mist. |
| Confusable | mantel | A mantelpiece. |
| Related | mantilla | A lace mantilla. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The mantle is about 84 per cent of earth's volume.Geology.
- A mantel is a shelf above a fireplace.Different spelling.
- He assumed his father's mantle.Took over the role.
Layers of the earth
- Crust — the thin outer shell
- Mantle — the thick middle layer, mostly solid but slowly flowing
- Outer core — liquid iron and nickel, generating the magnetic field
- Inner core — solid, despite far higher temperatures, because of pressure
- Moho — the boundary between crust and mantle
From Old English *mentel*, from Latin *mantellum*, a cloak. *Mantel*, the fireplace shelf, is the same word in a different spelling.
Mantle or mantel?
Mantel is the shelf above a fireplace. Mantle is everything else. They come from the same word.
Is the mantle molten?
Mostly not. It is solid rock that deforms and flows extremely slowly over geological time.