p-5+Lithosphere

﻿The lithosphere is the rigid outermost shell of a rocky planet. It comprises the crust and the portion of the upper mante that behaves elastically on time scales of thousands of years or greater. The lithosphere is broken into tectonic plates. ﻿The concept of the lithosphere as Earth's strong outer layer was deveoped by Joseph Barrel. He wrote series of papers introducing the concept,but later on they were expanded by Daly. They have been broadly accepted by geoloists and geophysicists. ﻿They are 2 types of lithospheres named the Oceanic Lithosphere which is associated wtih Oceanic Crust and exists in the ocean basins. The other one is the Continental lithosphere which is associated with continental crust. ﻿The thickness of the lithosphere is considered to be the depth to the isotherm assiociated with the transition between brittle and vicious behavior. The lithosphere is very important to the rock cycle. Without the rock cycle the planet would stay the same. ﻿ ﻿The lithosphere is responsible for the renewal of Earth's surface. While listening to the fast earthquake waves,scientists discovered the top mantle is just as rigid as the crust,although they have different chemicals. ﻿The thickness of the continental lithospheric plates is probably around 185 mi. but is uncertain due to the irregular presence of the Moho discontinuity. The temperature of the lithosphere is mostly 600 degrees celsius. ﻿On the surface of the lithosphere the temperature can dip to around 89 degrees C.