3141: Mantle Model - Revision history

82.132.238.95: /* Explanation */ Added in the volcanic 'bookends' that (some suggest!) ushered in the start and end of the Roman Empire. Though take it with a pinch of salt, if not actual stratospheric volcanic gas... ;)

2026-02-25T17:07:31Z

‎Explanation: Added in the volcanic 'bookends' that (some suggest!) ushered in the start and end of the Roman Empire. Though take it with a pinch of salt, if not actual stratospheric volcanic gas... ;)

BunsenH: Undo revision 403216 by 112.206.102.74 (talk) spam

2026-01-09T14:53:50Z

Undo revision 403216 by 112.206.102.74 (talk) spam

112.206.102.74 at 11:37, 9 January 2026

2026-01-09T11:37:42Z

Underdevelopedprefrontalcortex: Earth surface -> Earth's surface in transcript, fixes error

2025-09-19T07:03:27Z

Earth surface -> Earth's surface in transcript, fixes error

DKMell: clarification

2025-09-17T00:45:28Z

clarification

DKMell: minor fixes

2025-09-16T17:59:02Z

minor fixes

216.221.83.168: Fixed wiki link to Volcanic winter of 536 (lowercase winter)

2025-09-16T15:05:51Z

Fixed wiki link to Volcanic winter of 536 (lowercase winter)

216.221.83.168: Some edits for clarity and formality of tone, and some wiki links for the city of Rome and especially Constantinople (as it does not exist under that name today)

2025-09-16T15:04:39Z

Some edits for clarity and formality of tone, and some wiki links for the city of Rome and especially Constantinople (as it does not exist under that name today)

216.221.83.168: Clarification that 'decline of Rome' could refer to the empire or the city specifically. The next sentence comments on some factors that are city-specific, not empire-wide.

2025-09-16T14:58:17Z

Clarification that 'decline of Rome' could refer to the empire or the city specifically. The next sentence comments on some factors that are city-specific, not empire-wide.

216.221.83.168: Mount Vesuvius is not considered a hotspot volcano and is therefore considered not the direct result of mantle plumes

2025-09-16T14:55:44Z

Mount Vesuvius is not considered a hotspot volcano and is therefore considered not the direct result of mantle plumes

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 * The {{w|Adirondack_Mountains#Geology|Adirondack uplift}}. The Adirondack Mountains began uplifting in the past 10 million years. This orogeny is not related to the original {{w|Appalachian orogeny}}, which began much earlier, 325-260 million years ago. A leading theory about the Adirondack uplift is that it's driven by a hotspot atop a mantle plume.
 * The {{w|Permian extinction}}, also called the 'Great Dying' and more formally as the Permian-Triassic extinction event, is the largest of the {{w|List of extinction events|"big five" mass extinctions}} since vertebrate life appeared on Earth. There are several hypotheses as to why it happened, the foremost one of which, {{w|Siberian Traps}} volcanism, is thought to have happened because of a mantle plume.
-* The decline of Rome refers to the end of the {{w|Roman Empire}}, or, more specifically, of the original and western capital city of {{w|Rome}}. The decline was a complex issue caused by many non-mantle-plume-related factors, including changing social pressures, financial exhaustion after a series of wars, pressure from neighboring rivals, and siphoning of resources and attention to the newer, eastern capital city of {{w|Constantinople}}.
+* The decline of Rome refers to the end of the {{w|Roman Empire}}, or, more specifically, of the original and western capital city of {{w|Rome}}. The decline was a complex issue caused by many non-mantle-plume-related factors, including changing social pressures, financial exhaustion after a series of wars, pressure from neighboring rivals, and siphoning of resources and attention to the newer, eastern capital city of {{w|Constantinople}}, although there are claims that {{w|Volcanic winter of 536|vulcanism elsewhere in the world}} contributed to the fall of Rome and/or its other more direct causes, just as there are that {{w|Mount Okmok#43 BCE: Okmok II eruption|a prior event}} helped it to rise in the first place.
 * The {{w|DB Cooper}} airplane hijacking occurred in 1971 and remains unsolved. Dan Cooper is an alias of the hijacker, whose real name is unknown. This is one of several xkcd cartoons referring to [[D.B. Cooper]], including [[1400: D.B. Cooper]], in which Cueball suggested that Cooper might have become filmmaker {{w|Tommy Wiseau}}, and [[2498: Forest Walk]], in which Cooper is seen stuck in a tree on [[Beret Guy]]'s property.  The hijacking itself had nothing to do with mantle plumes.
 * The {{w|balrog}} in {{w|Moria, Middle-earth|Moria}} is a fictional beast in {{w|J.R.R. Tolkien}}'s {{w|legendarium}} that first appeared in ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}''. It too has nothing to do with mantle plumes, but it was revealed by the dwarves, who "delved too greedily and too deep and awoke a terror of shadow and flame."  If we were to delve sufficiently greedily and deep that we dug into a mantle plume, we would indeed be greeted by a terrible amount of flame, although the shadow aspect is unconfirmed.{{cn}}

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 * The {{w|balrog}} in {{w|Moria, Middle-earth|Moria}} is a fictional beast in {{w|J.R.R. Tolkien}}'s {{w|legendarium}} that first appeared in ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}''. It too has nothing to do with mantle plumes, but it was revealed by the dwarves, who "delved too greedily and too deep and awoke a terror of shadow and flame."  If we were to delve sufficiently greedily and deep that we dug into a mantle plume, we would indeed be greeted by a terrible amount of flame, although the shadow aspect is unconfirmed.{{cn}}
 * Antle plumes (in the title text) are a pun on "ant" and "mantle plumes". These little sand hills are probably actually {{w|anthills}} ("ant-hill plumes") and are created by ants at the entrances to their underground nests from the material excavated from their tunnels.
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 * The {{w|balrog}} in {{w|Moria, Middle-earth|Moria}} is a fictional beast in {{w|J.R.R. Tolkien}}'s {{w|legendarium}} that first appeared in ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}''. It too has nothing to do with mantle plumes, but it was revealed by the dwarves, who "delved too greedily and too deep and awoke a terror of shadow and flame."  If we were to delve sufficiently greedily and deep that we dug into a mantle plume, we would indeed be greeted by a terrible amount of flame, although the shadow aspect is unconfirmed.{{cn}}
 * Antle plumes (in the title text) are a pun on "ant" and "mantle plumes". These little sand hills are probably actually {{w|anthills}} ("ant-hill plumes") and are created by ants at the entrances to their underground nests from the material excavated from their tunnels.
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 :[On the Earth’s surface are various rock formations that align with the locations of plumes just below.]
 :[The formations are labeled:]
-:Every feature of the Earth surface that we have a hard time explaining
+:Every feature of the Earth's surface that we have a hard time explaining
 :[Caption below the panel:]

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 * {{w|Hawaii}}. A {{w|Hotspot (geology)|hotspot}}, hypothesized to sit atop a mantle plume, did indeed create the Hawaiian Islands.
 * {{w|Yellowstone}}. This area of hot springs, geysers, and other geothermal phenomena is in the {{w|Yellowstone Caldera}}, which some geologists believe sits atop a mantle plume.
-* {{w|Iceland}}. Essentially the same as Hawaii, except for being at the edge of two plates instead of in the middle of one.
+* {{w|Iceland}}. Essentially the same as Hawaii, except for being at the edge of two {{w|tectonic plates}} instead of in the middle of one.
-* The {{w|East African Rift}}. This area in East Africa is a developing divergent {{w|tectonic plate}} boundary where the African plate is in the process of splitting into two tectonic plates. Mantle plumes and hotspots have been theorized to have initiated and continued this divergence.
+* The {{w|East African Rift}}. This area in East Africa is a developing divergent tectonic plate boundary where the African plate is in the process of splitting into two tectonic plates. Mantle plumes and hotspots have been theorized to have initiated and continued this divergence.
-* The {{w|Adirondack_Mountains#Geology|Adirondack uplift}}. The Adirondack Mountains began uplifting in the past 10 million years. This orogeny is not related to the original {{w|Appalachian orogeny}}, which began much earlier, 325-260 million years ago. A leading theory about the Adirondack uplift is that it's driven by a hotspot (mantle plume).
+* The {{w|Adirondack_Mountains#Geology|Adirondack uplift}}. The Adirondack Mountains began uplifting in the past 10 million years. This orogeny is not related to the original {{w|Appalachian orogeny}}, which began much earlier, 325-260 million years ago. A leading theory about the Adirondack uplift is that it's driven by a hotspot atop a mantle plume.
-* The {{w|Permian extinction}}, also called the 'Great Dying' and more formally as the Permian-Triassic extinction event, is the largest of the {{w|List of extinction events|"big five" mass extinctions}} since vertebrate life appeared on Earth. There are several hypotheses as to why it happened, one of which, {{w|Siberian Traps}} volcanism, could have happened because of a mantle plume.
+* The {{w|Permian extinction}}, also called the 'Great Dying' and more formally as the Permian-Triassic extinction event, is the largest of the {{w|List of extinction events|"big five" mass extinctions}} since vertebrate life appeared on Earth. There are several hypotheses as to why it happened, the foremost one of which, {{w|Siberian Traps}} volcanism, is thought to have happened because of a mantle plume.
-* The decline of Rome refers to the end of the {{w|Roman Empire}}, or, more specifically, of the original and western capital city of {{w|Rome}}. The decline was a complex issue caused by many non-mantle-plume-related factors, including changing social pressures, financial exhaustion after a series of wars, pressure from neighboring rivals, and siphoning of resources and attention to the newer, eastern capital city of {{w|Constantinople}}. One contributing factor could relate to the eruption of {{w|Mount Vesuvius}}, which was a tragedy, but not empire-ending. Mount Vesuvius is also generally considered to be the result of [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227292973_Late-Quaternary_volcanism_and_transtensional_tectonics_in_the_Bay_of_Naples_Campanian_continental_margin_Italy tectonic-boundary volcanism], not directly related to mantle plumes. This could instead allude to the {{w|Volcanic winter of 536|Volcanic winter of AD 536}}, which was, in all likelihood, caused by a volcano, and which did hasten the decline of the Roman Empire in the age of Justinian.
+* The decline of Rome refers to the end of the {{w|Roman Empire}}, or, more specifically, of the original and western capital city of {{w|Rome}}. The decline was a complex issue caused by many non-mantle-plume-related factors, including changing social pressures, financial exhaustion after a series of wars, pressure from neighboring rivals, and siphoning of resources and attention to the newer, eastern capital city of {{w|Constantinople}}.
-* The {{w|DB Cooper}} airplane hijacking occurred in 1971 and remains unsolved. Dan B. Cooper is an alias of the hijacker, whose real name is unknown. Nine years later, a mantle plume covered what was left of the evidence, along with a large portion of the Pacific Northwest, in volcanic ash as Mount St. Helens Erupted.{{Actual citation needed}} This is one of several xkcd cartoons referring to [[D. B. Cooper]], including [[1400: D.B. Cooper]] in which Cueball suggested that Cooper might have become filmmaker {{w|Tommy Wiseau}}, and [[2498: Forest Walk]], in which Cooper is seen stuck in a tree on [[Beret Guy]]'s property.  However, the hijacking itself probably has nothing to do with mantle plumes.
+* The {{w|DB Cooper}} airplane hijacking occurred in 1971 and remains unsolved. Dan Cooper is an alias of the hijacker, whose real name is unknown. This is one of several xkcd cartoons referring to [[D.B. Cooper]], including [[1400: D.B. Cooper]], in which Cueball suggested that Cooper might have become filmmaker {{w|Tommy Wiseau}}, and [[2498: Forest Walk]], in which Cooper is seen stuck in a tree on [[Beret Guy]]'s property.  The hijacking itself had nothing to do with mantle plumes.
 * The {{w|balrog}} in {{w|Moria, Middle-earth|Moria}} is a fictional beast in {{w|J.R.R. Tolkien}}'s {{w|legendarium}} that first appeared in ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}''. It too has nothing to do with mantle plumes, but it was revealed by the dwarves, who "delved too greedily and too deep and awoke a terror of shadow and flame."  If we were to delve sufficiently greedily and deep that we dug into a mantle plume, we would indeed be greeted by a terrible amount of flame, although the shadow aspect is unconfirmed.{{cn}}
 * Antle plumes (in the title text) are a pun on "ant" and "mantle plumes". These little sand hills are probably actually {{w|anthills}} ("ant-hill plumes") and are created by ants at the entrances to their underground nests from the material excavated from their tunnels.

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 * The {{w|Adirondack_Mountains#Geology|Adirondack uplift}}. The Adirondack Mountains began uplifting in the past 10 million years, and this orogeny is not related to the original Appalachian orogeny. One theory is that their uplift is driven by a hotspot (mantle plume).
 * The {{w|Permian extinction}}, also called the 'Great Dying' and more formally as the Permian-Triassic extinction event, is the largest of the {{w|List of extinction events|"big five" mass extinctions}} since vertebrate life appeared on Earth. There are several hypotheses as to why it happened, one of which, {{w|Siberian Traps}} volcanism, could have happened because of a mantle plume.
-* The decline of Rome refers to the end of the {{w|Roman Empire}}, or, more specifically, the original and western capital city of {{w|Rome}}. The decline was a complex issue caused by many non-mantle-plume-related factors, including changing social pressures, financial exhaustion after a series of wars, pressure from neighboring rivals, and siphoning of resources and attention to the newer, eastern capital city of {{w|Constantinople}}. One contributing factor could relate to the eruption of {{w|Mount Vesuvius}}, which was a tragedy, but not empire-ending. Mount Vesuvius is also generally considered to be the result of [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227292973_Late-Quaternary_volcanism_and_transtensional_tectonics_in_the_Bay_of_Naples_Campanian_continental_margin_Italy tectonic-boundary volcanism], not directly related to mantle plumes. This could instead allude to the {{w|Volcanic Winter of 536}}, which was, in all likelihood, caused by a volcano, and which did hasten the decline of the Roman Empire in the age of Justinian.
+* The decline of Rome refers to the end of the {{w|Roman Empire}}, or, more specifically, the original and western capital city of {{w|Rome}}. The decline was a complex issue caused by many non-mantle-plume-related factors, including changing social pressures, financial exhaustion after a series of wars, pressure from neighboring rivals, and siphoning of resources and attention to the newer, eastern capital city of {{w|Constantinople}}. One contributing factor could relate to the eruption of {{w|Mount Vesuvius}}, which was a tragedy, but not empire-ending. Mount Vesuvius is also generally considered to be the result of [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227292973_Late-Quaternary_volcanism_and_transtensional_tectonics_in_the_Bay_of_Naples_Campanian_continental_margin_Italy tectonic-boundary volcanism], not directly related to mantle plumes. This could instead allude to the {{w|Volcanic winter of 536}}, which was, in all likelihood, caused by a volcano, and which did hasten the decline of the Roman Empire in the age of Justinian.
 * The {{w|DB Cooper}} airplane hijacking occurred in 1971 and remains unsolved, so Randall says it was caused by mantle plumes. Dan B. Cooper is an alias of the hijacker, whose real name is unknown. Nine years later, a mantle plume covered what was left of the evidence, along with a large portion of the Pacific Northwest, in volcanic ash as Mt. St. Helens Erupted.{{Actual citation needed}} This is one of several xkcd cartoons referring to [[D. B. Cooper]], including [[1400: D.B. Cooper]] in which Cueball suggested that Cooper might have become filmmaker {{w|Tommy Wiseau}}, and [[2498: Forest Walk]], in which Cooper is seen stuck in a tree on [[Beret Guy]]'s property.  However, the hijacking itself probably has nothing to do with mantle plumes.
 * The {{w|balrog}} in {{w|Moria, Middle-earth|Moria}} is a fictional beast in {{w|J.R.R. Tolkien}}'s {{w|legendarium}} that first appeared in ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}''. It too has nothing to do with mantle plumes, but it was revealed by the dwarves, who "delved too greedily and too deep and awoke a terror of shadow and flame."  If we were to delve sufficiently greedily and deep that we dug into a mantle plume, we would indeed be greeted by a terrible amount of flame, although the shadow aspect is unconfirmed.