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lithosphere
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Cross-section diagram showing the Earth's crust and upper mantle, with the lithosphere labeled as a rigid outer layer above the deeper, more ductile asthenosphere, and depth indicated in kilometers. Cross-sectional diagram illustrating plate tectonics, showing oceanic and continental crust moving over the asthenosphere. It highlights divergent boundaries at oceanic ridges where crust forms, convergent boundaries at trenches with subduction zones where crust is destroyed, and a transform boundary with a fault. Features such as island arcs, rising magma, and hotspots are labeled. cross section of a tectonic plate island arc World map showing the present-day configuration of continents and major lithospheric plates, highlighting tectonic features such as young orogenic belts in brown, fracture zones and transform faults as dashed lines, actively spreading oceanic ridges as heavy lines, active oceanic trenches with arrows indicating direction of subduction, and locations of active or recently extinct volcanoes marked with triangles. World map showing the principal tectonic plates that make up Earth's lithosphere, with plate boundaries outlined in red and major plates labeled, including the Pacific, North American, South American, African, Eurasian, Indo-Australian, Antarctic, Nazca, Cocos, and Caribbean plates. Triangles mark notable geological features such as volcanoes along plate boundaries. Cross-sectional diagram of Earth's outer layers, showing oceanic and continental crust at the surface, the rigid lithosphere, the partially melted asthenosphere, and transitions from upper to lower mantle, with labeled depths and rock properties. Diagram illustrating Earth's environmental spheres, with labeled sections showing the geosphere (land and crust), biosphere (living things), atmosphere (air), and hydrosphere (water), each extending vertically from the Earth's surface. Cross-sectional diagram of a subduction zone showing oceanic crust moving beneath continental crust, with features labeled including transform fault, oceanic ridge, trench, accretionary wedge, rising magma, and the Benioff-Wadati zone.
How and where does magma form on Earth?

lithosphere: References & Edit History

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  • The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
    Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.

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Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Modified link of Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - The Earth's Lithosphere Inspires Materials Design. Oct 24, 2026
Add new Web site: Geosciences LibreTexts - The Lithosphere. Aug 29, 2026
Add new Web site: Pima Open Digital Press - Systems, Logic, and Sustainability - Earth systems interactions and analysis – atmosphere and lithosphere. Nov 27, 2025
Add new Web site: Salt Lake Community College Pressbooks - Physical Geography and Natural Disasters - Internal Structure of Earth. Sep 26, 2025
Add new Web site: CiteSeerX - Structural softening of the lithosphere (PDF). Mar 28, 2025
Add new Web site: Academia - 6.05 Heat Flow and Thermal Structure of the Lithosphere (PDF). Feb 15, 2025
Add new Web site: Mustansiriyah University - Lithosphere (PDF). Dec 19, 2024
Add new Web site: USGS - Earthquake Science Center - Processes of lithosphere evolution: new evidence on the structure of the continental crust and uppermost mantle. Sep 12, 2024
Add new Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - The Earth's Lithosphere Inspires Materials Design. Jun 18, 2024
Article revised and updated. Mar 04, 2024
Add new Web site: International Geographic Society - Structure and Evolution of the Lithosphere Beneath the Rocky Mountains: Initial Results from the CD-ROM Experiment. Jan 05, 2024
Add new Web site: Pressbook - Cryosphere and Lithosphere. Nov 07, 2023
Add new Web site: Biology LibreTexts - The Lithosphere. Dec 03, 2022
Add new Web site: Space.com - The lithosphere: Facts about Earth's outer shell. Aug 24, 2022
Corrected display issue. Jan 31, 2020
Added new Web site: National Geographic - Lithosphere. Apr 17, 2009
New article added. Mar 24, 2009
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