The lithosphere is the solid, outer office of the Earth. The lithosphere includes the brittle upper portion of the mantle and the crust, the outermost layers of Earth's structure. Information technology is bounded past the atmosphere in a higher place and the asthenosphere (some other part of the upper mantle) below.

Although the rocks of the lithosphere are still considered rubberband, they are not glutinous. The asthenosphereis gluey, and the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) is the point where geologists and rheologists—scientists who study the flow of matter—mark the difference in ductility between the 2 layers of the upper mantle. Ductility measures a solid cloth'south ability to deform or stretch under stress. The lithosphere is far less ductile than the asthenosphere.

There are 2 types of lithosphere: oceanic lithosphere and continental lithosphere. Oceanic lithosphere is associated with oceanic crust, and is slightly denser than continental lithosphere.

Plate Tectonics

The most well-known feature associated with Globe'due south lithosphere is tectonic activity. Tectonic activity describes the interaction of the huge slabs of lithosphere called tectonic plates.

The lithosphere is divided into tectonic plates including the Due north American, Caribbean, South American, Scotia, Antarctic, Eurasian, Arabian, African, Indian, Philippine, Australian, Pacific, Juan de Fuca, Cocos, and Nazca.

Most tectonic activity takes place at the boundaries of these plates, where they may collide, tear apart, or slide against each other. The movement of tectonic plates is made possible by thermal energy (estrus) from the mantle function of the lithosphere. Thermal free energy makes the rocks of the lithosphere more than elastic.

Tectonic activeness is responsible for some of Earth's well-nigh dramatic geologic events: earthquakes, volcanoes, orogeny (mount-building), and deep sea trenches can all be formed by tectonic activity in the lithosphere.

Tectonic activity can shape the lithosphere itself: Both oceanic and continental lithospheres are thinnest at rift valleys and ocean ridges, where tectonic plates are shifting apart from one another.

How the Lithosphere Interacts with Other Spheres

The cool, breakable lithosphere is only one of five keen "spheres" that shape the environment of World. The other spheres are the biosphere (Earth'southward living things); the cryosphere (Globe'southward frozen regions, including both ice and frozen soil); the hydrosphere (Earth's liquid water); and the atmosphere (the air surrounding our planet). These spheres interact to influence such various elements equally bounding main salinity, biodiversity, and mural.

For case, the pedosphere is part of the lithosphere fabricated of soil and dirt. The pedosphere is created by the interaction of the lithosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. Enormous, hard rocks of the lithosphere may exist footing downwards to powder past the powerful movement of a glacier (cyrosphere). Weathering and erosion acquired by air current (temper) or rain (hydrosphere) may too wear downwards rocks in the lithosphere. The organic components of the biosphere, including establish and animal remains, mix with these eroded rocks to create fertile soil—the pedosphere.

The lithosphere likewise interacts with the temper, hydrosphere, and cryosphere to influence temperature differences on Globe. Tall mountains, for example, often accept dramatically lower temperatures than valleys or hills. The mount range of the lithosphere is interacting with the lower air pressure of the atmosphere and the snowy precipitation of the hydrosphere to create a cool or even icy climate zone. A region's climate zone, in plow, influences adaptations necessary for organisms of the region's biosphere.

lithosphere

The rocky lithosphere includes role of the upper mantle and crust.

Extraterrestrial Lithospheres
All terrestrial planets take lithospheres. The lithospheres of Mercury, Venus, and Mars are much thicker and more rigid than Earth'southward.

The LAB

The depth of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) is a hot topic among geologists and rheologists. These scientists report the upper mantle's viscosity, temperature, and grain size of its rocks and minerals. What they have constitute varies widely, from a thinner, crust-deep boundary at ocean ridges to thick, 200-kilometer (124-mile) boundary below cratons, the oldest and most stable parts of continental lithosphere.

Noun

a modification of an organism or its parts that makes it more than fit for existence. An accommodation is passed from generation to generation.

air pressure

Substantive

forcefulness pressed on an object by air or atmosphere.

asthenosphere

Noun

layer in Earth'southward mantle between the lithosphere (in a higher place) and the upper curtain (beneath).

Substantive

layers of gases surrounding a planet or other angelic body.

Noun

all the dissimilar kinds of living organisms inside a given expanse.

Noun

part of the Earth where life exists.

breakable

Describing word

fragile or easily broken.

climate zone

Noun

area separated from others by its long-term weather patterns.

continental crust

Noun

thick layer of Earth that sits beneath continents.

convection

Noun

transfer of heat by the movement of the heated parts of a liquid or gas.

Substantive

rocky outermost layer of World or other planet.

cryosphere

Substantive

icy function of the Globe'south waterincluding icebergs, glaciers, and water ice caps.

dumbo

Describing word

having parts or molecules that are packed closely together.

diverse

Adjective

varied or having many different types.

ductility

Substantive

ability of a solid textile to withstand stress or forcefulness by changing form instead of breaking.

Noun

our planet, the third from the Dominicus. The World is the only place in the known universe that supports life.

earthquake

Noun

the sudden shaking of Globe's chaff acquired by the release of energy along error lines or from volcanic activeness.

rubberband

Adjective

able to bend easily.

environment

Noun

weather that environment and influence an organism or customs.

Substantive

act in which earth is worn abroad, frequently by water, wind, or water ice.

fertile

Describing word

able to produce crops or sustain agriculture.

geologic

Adjective

having to do with the concrete formations of the Earth.

geologist

Noun

person who studies the physical formations of the Globe.

Substantive

mass of ice that moves slowly over land.

Noun

land that rises above its surround and has a rounded meridian, usually less than 300 meters (1,000 feet).

Substantive

all the Earth'south water in the ground, on the surface, and in the air.

Substantive

the geographic features of a region.

Noun

outer, solid portion of the Earth. Also called the geosphere.

lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB)

Noun

chemic and mechanical distinction between the absurd, rigid lithosphere and the warmer, more ductile asthenosphere.

Substantive

middle layer of the Earth, made of mostly solid stone.

mid-ocean ridge

Noun

underwater mountain range.

mount

Substantive

landmass that forms as tectonic plates interact with each other.

oceanic chaff

Substantive

thin layer of the Globe that sits below ocean basins.

Noun

a long, deep depression in the bounding main flooring.

organic

Describing word

composed of living or in one case-living material.

orogeny

Noun

the way mountains are formed.

pedosphere

Noun

layer of Earth consisting of soil and all information technology contains (such as water, air, organisms).

plastic

Noun

chemical material that tin can exist hands shaped when heated to a high temperature.

Substantive

all forms in which water falls to Earth from the temper.

Substantive

all forms in which h2o falls to Earth from the atmosphere.

Noun

liquid precipitation.

remains

Noun

materials left from a dead or absent organism.

rheologist

Noun

scientist who studies the menstruum and shape-changing (deformation) of affair.

Substantive

depression in the ground caused past the Earth'southward crust spreading autonomously.

rock

Noun

natural substance composed of solid mineral thing.

snow

Substantive

atmospheric precipitation made of ice crystals.

soil

Substantive

top layer of the Earth's surface where plants can grow.

stress

Verb

to strain or put pressure on.

tectonic activity

Noun

movement of tectonic plates resulting in geologic activeness such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

tectonic plate

Noun

massive slab of solid rock fabricated up of Earth's lithosphere (crust and upper mantle). Also called lithospheric plate.

Noun

degree of hotness or coldness measured past a thermometer with a numerical calibration.

thermal energy

Noun

oestrus, measured in joules or calories.

valley

Noun

low in the Earth betwixt hills.

mucilaginous

Adjective

liquid that is thick and sticky.

Noun

an opening in the Earth'south chaff, through which lava, ash, and gases erupt, and also the cone built by eruptions.

Noun

the breaking down or dissolving of the Earth's surface rocks and minerals.

Noun

movement of air (from a loftier force per unit area zone to a low pressure level zone) caused past the uneven heating of the World by the sun.

  • Credits

    Media Credits

    The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media nugget, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or grouping credited.

    Editor

    Jeannie Evers, Emdash Editing

    Producer

    Caryl-Sue, National Geographic Guild

    Last Updated

    May 20, 2015

  • User Permissions

    For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you lot take questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your instructor. They volition best know the preferred format. When you attain out to them, y'all volition need the page championship, URL, and the date you accessed the resource.

    Media

    If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. If no push appears, you cannot download or save the media.

    Text

    Text on this folio is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service.

    Interactives

    Whatever interactives on this page can only be played while yous are visiting our website. Yous cannot download interactives.