The Earth: Shape and Size-Lithosphere

Introduction 

This assignment is going to discuss everything related to the topic “The Earth: Shape and Size-Lithosphere”. What is lithosphere? What are the effects of lithosphere over the ecosystem? What are the components of the lithosphere? What are the layers of the lithosphere? How many types of lithosphere are there? What are the examples of the lithosphere?  What are the characteristics of the lithosphere? In this blog post we are going to analyze all the questions to better understand the topic “The Earth: Shape and Size-Lithosphere”.

Lithosphere

Lithosphere can be defined as the “rigid outer layer of the earth”. The word “litho” means rock and stones and “sphere” means circle. According to Rheology, the earth base has 7 layers such as “Geosphere means rocky surface, lithosphere, crust or outermost shell, mesosphere, mantle, core, asthenosphere or exterior part of mantel, and tectonic plates”. In this assignment the topic is lithosphere which is located in the above of the asthenosphere and under the atmosphere. Lithosphere is the rigid solid and outer envelope of earth’s base. This portion mainly contains two layers such as the “upper portion of the mantle” and the crust. The upper surface of the soil, cooled quickly due to the cool temperature of the space. As a result, the crust layers “much-cooled” are solidified and turn into the “outer layer of the earth” or known as lithosphere.

Effects of lithosphere over the ecosystem

As the outer layer of earth, the lithosphere plays a vital role over the ecosystem. Lithosphere contains grasslands agriculture, forests, and human settlement along with the large sources of the minerals. Various types of rock such as metamorphic, sedimentary and igneous rocks are the best resources for the nutrients which are essential for plants. Along with that as the lithosphere is the exterior layer earth base, it affects the hydrosphere. On the other hand the lithosphere affects the atmosphere of the weather. The tectonic plates movements and reason of eruption, where the below magma came out as lava in the outer segment of earth.

Components of lithosphere

There are 3 components in the layers of lithosphere. The components are crust, mantle and core. The crust is a form of  “silicate solid”. The mantle part of the  lithosphere is a “viscous molten rock”. Along with these, the third part of the lithosphere contains two parts: the outer core and the inner core. The outer core contains “viscous liquid” and the inner core contains “dense solid”. The crust contains elements such as Oxygen (O), Silicon (Si), Aluminum (Al), Iron (Fe), Calcium (Ca), Sodium (N), Potassium (k), Magnesium (Mg). The mantle of the lithosphere contains silicate rocks that contain magnesium and rich iron. The outer parts contain “iron mixed with nickel” and the inner core contains iron and a small amount of nickel.  

Types of lithosphere 

There are two types of lithosphere in the earth base. These two layers are: a) oceanic lithosphere and b) continental lithosphere.

Oceanic lithosphere: this layer is considered as the top most layer of the ocean bed. This Bed of ocean consists of various layers. The layers are “mafic crust” and “ultramafic mantle or peridotite”. This lithosphere crust is considered denser when compared with the continental crust.

Continental lithosphere: this lithosphere layer consists of the “continental crust” and some part of the upper mantle that is non convecting. In “plate tectonics terms”, this part of lithosphere can be defined as the rigid outer of the earth crust that can be further segmented into the different major plates.

Examples of lithosphere

The examples of the lithosphere are Granite, Seafloor, Sedimentary rocks, Metamorphic rocks, Igneous Rocks, Soil, Mountains

Characteristics of lithosphere 

Exterior layer of the earth is covered with a hard layer known as crust. It is made up of rocks and other materials. It is covered by a fine outer cover of soil. It contains different types of landforms including deserts, plains, mountains, valleys and plateaus and many more.

Conclusion

This assignment or the blog post is about “The Earth: Shape and Size-Lithosphere”. In this assignment the lithosphere of earth is defined briefly. It can be concluded from the study that the lithosphere is known as the most outer rigid solid region of earth base. The effects of lithosphere over the ecosystem are briefly discussed in this blog post. Components of the lithosphere are also discussed in this study briefly. This study also consists of a brief description of types of lithosphere. Apart from all of these, this study analyses the examples of lithosphere.