what parts of the earth make up the lithosphere
Lithosphere Earth's lithosphere includes the crust and the uppermost mantle, which constitute the hard and rigid outer layer of the Earth. The lithosphere is subdivided into tectonic plates. The uppermost part of the lithosphere that chemically reacts to the atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere through the soil forming process is called the pedosphere. The lithosphere is underlain by the asthenosphere which is the weaker, hotter, and deeper part of the upper mantle. The Lithosphere-Asthenosphere boundary is defined by a difference in response to stress: the lithosphere remains rigid for very long periods of geologic time in which it deforms elastically and through brittle failure, while the asthenosphere deforms viscously and accommodates strain through plastic deformation.
Mantle (geology) The interior of Earth, similar to the other terrestrial planets, is divided into layers of different composition. The mantle is a layer between the crust and the outer core. Earth's mantle is a silicate rocky shell with an average thickness of 2,886 kilometres (1,793Â mi).[13] The mantle makes up about 84% of Earth's volume.[14] It is predominantly solid but in geological time it behaves as a very viscous fluid. The mantle encloses the hot core rich in iron and nickel, which makes up about 15% of Earth's volume.[14] Past episodes of melting and volcanism at the shallower levels of the mantle have produced a thin crust of crystallized melt products near the surface.[15] Information about the structure and composition of the mantle has been obtained from geophysical investigation and from direct geoscientific analyses of Earth mantle-derived xenoliths and mantle that has been exposed by mid-oceanic ridge spreading.