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.
A mantle plume is an upwelling of abnormally hot rock within the Earth's mantle. As the heads of mantle plumes can partly melt when they reach shallow depths, they are thought to be the cause of volcanic centers known as hotspots and probably also to have caused flood basalts. It is a secondary way that Earth loses heat, much less important in this regard than is heat loss at plate margins.