S (the synodic period) = 360 / (360/ P - 360/365.256) days. S (the synodic period) = 360 / (360/365.256 - 360/ P) days. A diagram showing the relationship between orbital size and synodic periods. As the planets move around the Sun they change their positions relative to each other.
Some geologists consider that mantle plumes are generated in the lower levels of the asthenosphere by the decay of concentrations of radioactive isotopes. However, many believe that they are generated at much deeper levels in the lower mantle, perhaps even at the boundary of the mantle with the outer core.
The Plume Model. The idea is straightforward. A mantle plume is a large column of hot rock rising through the mantle. The heat from the plume causes rocks in the lower lithosphere to melt. The largest (and most persistent) mantle plumes are presumed to form where a large volume of mantle rock is heated at the core-mantle boundary, about 1,800 miles below the surface, although smaller plumes may originate elsewhere within the mantle.