The lithosphere is Earth's outermost layer, composed of the crust and the upper part of the mantle. The layer is divided into chunks called tectonic plates.

A softening in the middle of the continental lithosphere was discovered when seismologists studied the structure of the United States. This same softening was observed in other continents as well, at ...

Mountains are an expression of buoyancy in the outermost part of the Earth, caused by density contrasts in the lithosphere and underlying asthenosphere, as described by the principle of isostasy. The ...

Barbara Romanowicz, Yuancheng Gung, Superplumes from the Core-Mantle Boundary to the Lithosphere: Implications for Heat Flux, Science, New Series, Vol. 296, No. 5567 ...