New research from HKU geologists suggests that Earth's first continents were born not from plate tectonics, but from deep ...

Geologists from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have made a breakthrough in understanding how Earth's early continents ...

A tectonic plate is a massive slab of Earth’s outer shell, known as the lithosphere. These plates float on the asthenosphere, a softer, more flexible upper mantle layer. Earth’s lithosphere is ...

The material in the map shown above sits near the top of the areas illustrated in this diagram,where t he layer labeled “Cratonic lithosphere” bulges downward into the upper mantle.

Beneath California's Sierra Nevada, evidence suggests the lithosphere is undergoing foundering, where the denser lower lithosphere detaches and sinks into the mantle.

The Earth is made up of a total of 7 layers which are- crust, lithosphere (crust and uppermost mantle), asthenosphere (upper mantle directly below the lithosphere), lower mantle, outer core and ...

The lithosphere is the coolest, most rigid Earth layer, and it’s also a key player in the planet’s tectonic activity. In fact, the lithosphere is separated into several vast slabs, known as ...

Planet Earth consists of a crust, a mantle, and a core — so then what’s the asthenosphere? Wait, there’s something called a lithosphere too? What gives?! Schematic of the layers and sub ...

Earth is made up of several layers: the lithosphere, asthenosphere, lower mantle (also known as mesospheric mantle), outer core and inner core.

Deep within Earth, gravity acts to remove parts of the lithosphere — in some places, little pieces which are cold and dense compared to the mantle drop off the bottom under the force of gravity.