Definition
The lithosphere (from the Greek words lithos [λίθος] meaning rocky and sphaira [σΦαῖρα]meaning sphere) is defined as the outermost rigid shell of the Earth (Skinner et al., 2003). It comprises the crust and the upper portion of the mantle which is stiff and rigid and behaves elastically over millions of years. The mantle part of the lithosphere is named the “lithospheric mantle.” Beneath the lithospheric mantle follows the asthenosphere (from the Greek words asthenḗs [ἀσθενής] meaning weak and sphaira [σΦαῖρα] meaning sphere). Both the lithospheric mantle and the upper part of the asthenosphere are mainly composed of peridotitic rocks.
Introduction
The crust overlying the lithospheric mantle is either of oceanic type which is mainly composed of gabbroic and basaltic rocks resulting in a mean density of 3.0 g/cm3, or of continental type with a gabbroic/granulitic layer at its base and a variety of rock types in the upper part formed by magmatic differentiation, metamorphism,...
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Meschede, M. (2016). Lithosphere: Structure and Composition. In: Harff, J., Meschede, M., Petersen, S., Thiede, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6238-1_86
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6238-1_86
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