Lithosphere

The lithosphere (from the Greek for "rocky" sphere) is the solid outermost shell of a rocky planet. On the Earth, the lithosphere includes the crust and the uppermost layer of the mantle. It floats on the more plastic asthenosphere. The thickness of the lithosphere varies from around 1.6 km (1mi) at the mid-ocean ridges to approximately 130 km (80 mi) beneath older oceanic crust. The thickness of the continental lithospheric plates is probably around 150 kilometers (93 miles) but is uncertain due to the irregular presence of the Moho discontinuity. As the cooling surface layer of the Earth's convection system, the lithosphere thickens over time. It is fragmented into relatively strong pieces, called tectonic plates, which move independently relative to one another. This movement of lithospheric plates is described as plate tectonics. The lithosphere is distinguished from the crust by its chemical composition. There are two types of lithosphere:

• The oceanic lithosphere/crust.
• The continental lithosphere/crust.

Category:Geology Category:Plate tectonics de:Lithosphäre es:Litosfera ja:リソスフェア nl:lithosfeer pl:litosfera fr:Lithosphère

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