Lithosphere

Lithosphere Meaning and Definition (n.) The outer part of the solid earth, the portion undergoing change through the gradual transfer of material by volcanic eruption, the circulation of underground water, and the process of erosion and deposition. It is, therefore, regarded as a third mobile envelope comparable with the hydrosphere and atmosphere. (n.) The solid earth as distinguished from its fluid envelopes, the hydrosphere and atmosphere.(dictionary) The lithosphere is the outer solid part of the earth, including the crust and uppermost mantle. The lithosphere is about 100 km thick, although its thickness is age dependent (older lithosphere is thicker).The lithosphere below the crust is brittle enough at some locations to produce earthquakes by faulting, such as within a subducted oceanic plate.(Visual Glossary)

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NEWS--Researchers have reconstructed atmospheric carbon dioxide levels over the past 2.1 million years in the sharpest detail yet, shedding new light on its role in the earth's cycles of cooling and warming. A first-ever analysis and comparison of the carbon footprints of different countries using a single, trade-linked model has been created by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and the Centre of International Climate and Environment Research - Oslo (CICERO). ScienceDaily (June 22, 2009) — Some of the substances that are helping to avert the destruction of the ozone layer could increasingly contribute to climate warming, according to scientists from NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory and their colleagues in a new study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.