What is the lithosphere and asthenosphere?

Answer 1

lithosphere is the solid outermost shell of a rocky planet. On the Earth, the lithosphere includes the crust and the uppermost layer of the mantle (the upper mantle or lower lithosphere) which is joined to the crust. for more see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithosphere..

Asthenosphere is the region of the Earth between 100-200 km below the surface — but perhaps extending as deep as 400 km — that is the weak or "soft" zone in the upper mantle. It lies just below the lithosphere, which is involved in plate movements and isostatic adjustments. In spite of its heat, pressures keep it plastic, and it has a relatively low density. Seismic waves, the speed of which decrease with the softness of a medium, pass relatively slowly though the asthenosphere, the cue that originally alerted seismologists to its presence; thus it has been given the name low-velocity zone. for more see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asthenosphere ..

Answer 2

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On the Earth, the lithosphere includes the crust and the uppermost mantle which is joined to the crust across the mantle. The lithosphere is underlain by the asthenosphere, the weaker, hotter, and deeper part of the upper mantle. The boundary between the lithosphere and the underlying asthenosphere is defined by a difference in response to stress: the lithosphere remains rigid for long periods of geologic time, whereas the asthenosphere flows much more readily. As the conductively cooling surface layer of the Earth's convection system, the lithosphere thickens over time. It is fragmented into tectonic plates (shown in the picture), which move independently relative to one another. This movement of lithospheric plates is described as plate tectonics. This is when plates move horizontally across the Earth's surface and the continents change their relative positions. If the core cooled enough for the mantle to solidify, the tectonic plates would stop moving because they move on the semi-liquid mantle.

Answer 3

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 (the upper mantle or lower lithosphere) which is joined to the crust.

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 (shown in the picture), which move independently relative to one another. This movement of lithospheric plates is described as plate tectonics.

The distinguishing characteristic of the lithosphere is not composition, but its flow properties. Under the influence of the low-intensity, long-term stresses that drive plate tectonic motions, the lithosphere responds essentially as a rigid shell and thus deforms primarily through brittle failure, whereas the asthenosphere (the layer of the mantle below the lithosphere) is heat-softened and accommodates strain through plastic deformation. Both the crust and upper mantle float on the more plastic asthenosphere. The crust is distinguished from the upper mantle by the change in chemical composition that takes place at the Moho discontinuity.

The asthenosphere (from an invented Greek a + ''sthenos "without strength") is the region of the Earth between 100-200 km below the surface — but perhaps extending as deep as 400 km — that is the weak or "soft" zone in the upper mantle. It lies just below the lithosphere, which is involved in plate movements and isostatic adjustments. In spite of its heat, pressures keep it plastic, and it has a relatively low density. Seismic waves, the speed of which decrease with the softness of a medium, pass relatively slowly though the asthenosphere, the cue that originally alerted seismologists to its presence; thus it has been given the name low-velocity zone.

Under the thin oceanic plates the asthenosphere is usually much nearer the seafloor surface, and at mid-ocean ridges it rises to within a few kilometres of the ocean floor.

The upper part of the asthenosphere is believed to be the zone upon which the great rigid and brittle lithospheric plates of the Earth's crust move about. Due to the temperature and pressure conditions in the asthenosphere, rock becomes ductile, moving at rates of deformation measured in cm/yr over lineal distances eventually measuring thousands of kilometers. In this way, it flows like a convection current, radiating heat outward from the Earth's interior. Above the asthenosphere, at the same rate of deformation, rock behaves elastically and, being brittle, can break, causing faults. The rigid lithosphere is thought to "float" or move about on the slowly flowing asthenosphere, creating the movement of crustal plates described by Plate tectonics theory.

Although its presence was suspected as early as 1926, the worldwide occurrence of the asthenosphere was confirmed by analyses of earthquake waves from the Chilean Great earthquake of May 22, 1960

Answer 4

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 (the upper mantle or lower lithosphere) which is joined to the crust.

Answer 5

Lithosphere: brittle uppermost shell of the earth, broken into a number of tectonic plates. The lithosphere consists of the heavy oceanic and lighter continental crusts, and the uppermost portion of the mantle ( interior lying beneath the crust and above the core).

Asthenosphere: region in the upper mantle of the earth's interior, characterized by low-density, semiplastic (or partially molten) rock material chemically similar to the overlying lithosphere.

Answer 6

What Is The Lithosphere

Answer 7

Lithosphere - the rigid outer shell of the earth, composed of the crust and the upper part of the mantle.
Asthenosphere - the viscous part of the mantle directly beneath the lithosphere.

Answer 8

The rigid outer shell of the Earth, called the lithosphere, floats on a softer partially fluid layer of the Earth's mantle called the asthenosphere

Answer 9

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What is the lithosphere and asthenosphere?

Answer 10

Seeing as im only 15,don't take it for granted,but I think they are different air pressures over earth,like the hyrdosphere,asthenosphere I also believe is called the plastic mantle, all that I know of.