Lithosphere

The lithosphere is a planetary body's rigid outer shell. On Earth, it comprises the crust and the mechanically strong uppermost mantle.

Plate tectonics: The theory that Earth's lithosphere is divided into moving plates whose interactions shape the surface. Lithospheric plates move and interact through the processes described by this theory.
Earth's crust: Earth's outermost compositional layer, divided into continental and oceanic crust. The crust forms the upper component of Earth's lithosphere.
Earthquake: Ground shaking caused by the sudden movement of rock, usually along a fault. Most earthquakes originate when stress overcomes friction within the lithosphere.
Crust: A planet's outermost solid compositional layer, distinct from the mantle beneath it. The crust is only the upper part of Earth's lithosphere, not the whole shell.
Isostasy: The gravitational balance between Earth's crust and the mantle beneath it. Lithospheric thickness and density determine how its regions stand relative to one another.
Upper mantle: The mantle region extending from the crust–mantle boundary to roughly 660 kilometers depth. The lithosphere includes only its mechanically strong uppermost part.
Orogeny: The processes by which tectonic deformation builds mountain belts. Converging or colliding lithospheric plates drive many episodes of mountain building.
Asthenosphere: A weak, slowly deforming zone of the upper mantle beneath Earth's lithosphere. Unlike the rigid lithosphere, the asthenosphere deforms over geological timescales.
Lithospheric mantle: The cool, mechanically strong uppermost mantle that forms the mantle portion of Earth's lithosphere. It is the mantle component that joins the crust in Earth's rigid shell.
Mohorovičić discontinuity: The seismic boundary separating Earth's crust from the mantle. It marks the compositional boundary inside the lithosphere, not its base.

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