Summary
Contents
Subject index
This unique addition to reference literature provides an introduction to the major concepts and contemporary issues that are essential for students of environmental science and environmental studies to know. With over 200 entries authored by world-class names like Anthony Brazel, John Day and Edward Keller, this text is divided into six sections: Environmental Science, Environments, Paradigms & Concepts, Processes & Dynamics, Scales & Techniques, and Environmental Issues.
Lithosphere
Lithosphere
The solid portion of the Earth, as compared to the atmosphere and the hydrosphere. In plate tectonics, a layer of strength relative to the underlying asthenosphere for deformation at geologic rates. It includes the crust and part of the upper mantle and is of the order of 100 km in thickness (Dennis and Atwater, 1974, p. 31).
The lithosphere constitutes the rocky, solid outer layer of the Earth, consisting of both the crust and the uppermost part of the upper mantle. It overlies the asthenosphere, which constitutes the remainder of the mantle down to the outer core, like the shell of an egg. Ranging from 50 to 200 km in thickness, the lithosphere is thin under the oceanic crust and thick under the continental crust (Table ...
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