mantle plume

American

noun

Geology.

plume.

mantle plume British

noun

another name for plume

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of mantle plume

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Known as a mantle plume, this steady column of molten rock originates far below the surface.

From Science Daily

The team believes this was an early offshoot of what is now the Azores mantle plume.

From Science Daily

Notably, this happened without the presence of a deep mantle plume, challenging long-held assumptions about the source of such volcanism.

From Science Daily

He added, "The eruption of lava flows that covered half of the Indian subcontinent at this time — producing the celebrated Deccan Traps, one of the largest volcanic features on Earth — have long been attributed to a powerful mantle plume that is completely absent from the model simulation."

From Salon

It has already identified new seamounts in the northeast Atlantic Ocean that could help track the evolution of the mantle plume that feeds Iceland’s volcanoes.

From Science Magazine

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023