Unlike any other asteroid known today, Vesta has an iron core surrounded by layers of mantle rock and crust, similar to Earth and Mars, preliminary gravity and density measurements suggest.

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When the ocean plates sink deep enough, portions are melted by the intense heat generated within the mantle, turning the solid rock into molten magma.

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The origin of this effect may lie at the boundary between the mantle, made up of viscous rock that extends 2, 900 km (1, 800 miles) below the crust, and the outer core, which is thought to be liquid iron with the consistency of water.

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Meanwhile in the UK, the punk movement took on the mantle of political protest from its folk and rock forebears, with groups such as The Clash criticizing racial disharmony in British society.

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The rock is peridotite, which is one of the main rocks in the upper mantle, an area that provides a girth below the Earth's crust.

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The rock occurs some 20km or more down, although in areas where plate tectonics have forced up some of the mantle, peridotite reaches the surface.

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There's plenty on offer for the more traditional naturalist too with a panel of experts on hand to help identify that fearsome spider you've cornered in a matchbox, the interesting rock or fossil you picked up on the beach, or potential meteorite that's been sitting on the mantle piece.

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