Linked from

The 54 pages that link to Lithosphere, each with the reason it gives.

• Plate tectonicsBroader topic: The plates themselves: lithosphere moves over the weaker asthenosphere beneath it.

• Pacific PlateNarrower topic: The Pacific Plate is a moving section of this outer shell.

• IsostasyNarrower topic: Its strength determines whether loads are balanced locally or spread across broad regions.

• Subduction zoneRelated: The descending plate is a piece of lithosphere, not crust alone.

• Eurasian PlateNarrower topic: The Eurasian Plate is a moving section of this rigid outer shell.

• PedosphereRelated: Its rocks and sediments provide much of soil’s mineral matter.

• OrogenyNarrower topic: Orogeny deforms this outer shell, especially its continental portions.

• North American PlateNarrower topic: The North American Plate is one moving section of this outer shell.

• Glacial isostatic adjustmentNarrower topic: Its strength spreads ice-sheet loads across broad regions rather than beneath each point alone.

• Hotspot volcanismRelated: Its thickness and motion influence where hotspot magma reaches the surface.

• African PlateNarrower topic: The African Plate is a moving section of this outer shell.

• Earth's mantleRelated: The mantle's cool, rigid top joins the crust to form this shell.

• Flood basaltRelated: Variations in lithospheric thickness and composition may shape where and how flood-basalt magma rises.

• Caribbean PlateNarrower topic: The Caribbean Plate is a segment of this rigid outer shell.

• Indian PlateNarrower topic: The Indian Plate is a portion of lithosphere moving over the deeper mantle.

• Rift valleyNarrower topic: Rifting stretches and thins this outer shell.

• Convergent boundaryNarrower topic: The plates that meet at this boundary are pieces of the lithosphere.

• Island arcNarrower topic: Its moving plates create the convergent boundaries on which island arcs form.

• Mohorovičić discontinuityNarrower topic: The Moho lies inside the lithosphere, rather than defining its lower edge.

• Tectonic plateNarrower topic: A tectonic plate is a moving piece of lithosphere.

• Australian PlateNarrower topic: The plate is a mobile section of this rigid outer layer.

• South American PlateNarrower topic: The plate is a moving section of this rigid outer shell.

• AsthenosphereCompared with: Rigid lid above, weak layer below: the contrast defines both.

• Divergent boundaryRelated: Divergence stretches and separates this mechanically rigid shell.

• Himalayan orogenyRelated: The Indian and Eurasian lithospheres transmit forces and deform during convergence.

• Large igneous provinceNarrower topic: The thickness and structure of the lithosphere influence where province-forming melts accumulate or erupt.

• Antarctic PlateRelated: The Antarctic Plate consists of lithosphere moving as a coherent unit.

• Foreland basinRelated: Its strength determines how far the orogenic load bends the plate.

• Mantle xenolithRelated: Many xenoliths sample the mantle lithosphere beneath volcanic regions.

• Afar DepressionNarrower topic: Its stretching and thinning create the subsiding floor beneath Afar.

• BiosphereRelated: Life occupies portions of this solid realm, from soils to deep rock.

• Passive marginNarrower topic: Its deformation and cooling govern margin formation and long-term subsidence.

• Yellowstone hotspotNarrower topic: The thickness and structure of the lithosphere shape how a mantle heat source affects the surface.

• Baikal Rift ZoneNarrower topic: The rift’s evolution involves deformation of the continental lithosphere.

• Earth's crustNarrower topic: The crust is part of this larger rigid shell, not a tectonic plate by itself.

• Slab rollbackNarrower topic: The overriding and subducting plates are parts of this outer shell.

• Mantle viscosityCompared with: The lithosphere behaves mainly as a brittle or elastic lid over the viscously deforming mantle.

• Post-glacial reboundRelated: The lithosphere bends under ice-sheet weight and rises as that weight disappears.

• Tectonic subsidenceNarrower topic: Its strength and thickness govern how tectonic forces deform and lower the surface.

• Somali PlateNarrower topic: The Somali Plate consists of lithosphere that is being stretched at its continental boundary.

• West Antarctic Rift SystemNarrower topic: The system formed through deformation of this outer shell.

• Climate systemBroader topic: Landforms and soils shape surface energy exchange and water movement.

• Olympus MonsRelated: Mars’s comparatively immobile lithosphere may have let one volcanic center accumulate lava over time.

• Upper mantleBroader topic: Its mantle portion is the upper mantle’s stiff outer layer.

• Hawaii hotspotRelated: As oceanic lithosphere crosses the hotspot, it cools, thickens, and carries volcanoes away.

• Internal structure of EarthRelated: Mechanical layering combines crust and upper mantle into the plates that move across the surface.

• Intraplate earthquakeNarrower topic: Intraplate earthquakes occur wherever stresses exceed the lithosphere's strength away from edges.

• Mountain formationNarrower topic: Mountain-building deformation acts on this shell and its moving plates.

• Oxygen cycleRelated: Rocks and minerals in the lithosphere hold large quantities of chemically bound oxygen.

• Seafloor spreading hypothesisNarrower topic: The rigid layer that spreading actually moves; asthenosphere flows beneath it.