lithosphere

lithosphere

(lÿ -th'o-sfeer) See Earth.

Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006

lithosphere

[′lith·ə‚sfir]

(geology)

The rigid outer crust of rock on the earth about 50 miles (80 kilometers) thick, above the asthenosphere. Also known as oxysphere.

Since the development of plate tectonics theory, a term referring to the rigid, upper 60 miles (100 kilometers) of the crust and upper mantle, above the asthenosphere.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Lithosphere

 

the outer sphere of the “solid” earth, including the earth’s crust and the upper layer of the mantle (substratum). The lower boundary of the lithosphere runs above the asthenosphere. Until the 1960’s “lithosphere” was a synonym for the earth’s crust.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.