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Spinel peridotite
Penland
Specimen | Catalog Number | Locality | Weight |
---|---|---|---|
Peridotite | NMNH 116610-3 | Unknown |
It's no coincidence that most of these rocks are olive green. Some of their color comes from olivine, the most abundant mineral in Earth's upper mantle. That's where all these rocks--called peridotites--came from. Besides telling us what the upper mantle is made of, peridotites record geological processes that take place in this inaccessible layer of Earth.
Only rocks from the top fraction of Earth’s inaccessible mantle have been brought to the surface.
Reservoir | Depth |
---|---|
Crust | 40 km |
Upper mantle | 300 km |
Source of peridotite xenoliths | 600 km |