Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 What is the lithosphere?
- 2 Age of the lithosphere
- 3 Seismic structure of the lithosphere
- 4 Thermal regime of the lithosphere from heat flow data
- 5 Thermal state of the lithosphere from non-thermal data
- 6 CBL and lithospheric density from petrologic and geophysical data
- 7 Electrical structure of the lithosphere
- 8 Flexure and rheology
- 9 Evolution of the lithosphere
- 10 Summary of lithospheric properties
- References
- Subject index
- Geographical index
1 - What is the lithosphere?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 October 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 What is the lithosphere?
- 2 Age of the lithosphere
- 3 Seismic structure of the lithosphere
- 4 Thermal regime of the lithosphere from heat flow data
- 5 Thermal state of the lithosphere from non-thermal data
- 6 CBL and lithospheric density from petrologic and geophysical data
- 7 Electrical structure of the lithosphere
- 8 Flexure and rheology
- 9 Evolution of the lithosphere
- 10 Summary of lithospheric properties
- References
- Subject index
- Geographical index
Summary
“Unfortunately, the term lithosphere has recently been applied to many other concepts. The term is now in use with widely different meanings and implications.”
D. L. Anderson (1995)“How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress.”
Niels BohrThe lithosphere forms the outer (typically, 50–300 km thick) rigid shell of the Earth. It includes the crust and, in general, some non-convecting part of the upper mantle called the lithospheric mantle (Fig. 1.1). Oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the mantle on a 200 Ma scale, whereas the study of the continental lithosphere is of particular importance since it offers the only possibility of unraveling the tectonic and geologic history of the Earth over the past c. 4 Ga. Knowledge of the structure, composition, and secular evolution of the lithosphere is crucial for the understanding of the geological evolution of the Earth since its accretion, including understanding the processes behind the formation of the early lithosphere, the processes behind plate tectonics, and lithosphere–mantle interaction. Many of these processes are closely linked to processes in the deep Earth and its secular cooling. Human society is strongly dependent on knowledge of the geodynamic processes in the lithosphere which manifest themselves as variations in topography and bathymetry, deposition of minerals many of which occur only in specific lithospheric settings, and high-impact geologic hazards. Understanding processes in the deep Earth is impossible without knowledge of lithosphere structure.
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- The LithosphereAn Interdisciplinary Approach, pp. 1 - 14Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
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