The number of mantle plumes is predicted to be about 17.

This may be caused by a rising mantle plume or some other cause.

Whether or not such mantle plumes exist is currently the subject of a major controversy in Earth science.

The researchers also found that changes in spreading rates are centered on the position of the mantle plume.

Various lines of evidence have been cited in support of mantle plumes.

Mantle plumes have been suggested as the source for flood basalts.

The process continues until the mantle plume itself collapses.

A widely accepted theory is that mantle plumes are an essential part of the global heat engine.

It is thus not clear how strongly this observation supports the mantle plume hypothesis.

Some heat is carried up from the bottom of the mantle by mantle plumes.

Volcanism away from plate boundaries has also been explained as mantle plumes.

The hypothesis of mantle plumes is not universally accepted.

The mantle plume model has, however, been challenged.

These seamounts resulted from the movement of a mantle plume hotspot.

Other prominent examples include areas overlying mantle plumes such as the African superswell.

Many different localities have been suggested to be underlain by mantle plumes, and scientists cannot agree on a definitive list.

Delamination may thus account for some volcanic regions that have been attributed to mantle plumes in the past.

These A-type granitoids may have been produced by hotspots or mantle plumes.

In addition, mantle plumes may heat the lithosphere and cause prodigious igneous activity.

The lavas are thought to have originated from a mantle plume center called the Mackenzie hotspot.

The Deccan Trap eruptions were associated with a deep mantle plume.

This uplift and flood basalt volcanism was caused by a mantle plume.

There are alternative explanations for this mass concentration, such as formation by a mantle plume or other large-scale volcanic activity.

"Hotspots" is the name given to volcanic provinces postulated to be formed by mantle plumes.

The hotspot hypothesis is now closely linked to the mantle plume hypothesis.