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Contents of 10.2 What does mantle convection look like?

10.2 What does mantle convection look like?

• Mantle convection explains why heat flow is greater through the seafloor than through continents, and why decompressive melting forms magma.
• Mantle convection occurs because upward-moving rock expands more by decompression than it contracts by cooling and remains hotter and less dense than its surroundings—it rises. Likewise, sinking mantle compresses.