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# lithosphere

«lithosphere» in Mova's school dictionary: **the hard, rocky outer layer of the Earth: the crust plus…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (the lithosphere, uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

(science) The lithosphere is the hard, rocky outer layer of the Earth: the crust plus the very top part of the mantle, about 100 km thick, broken into tectonic plates. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lithosphere/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In geography and science lessons pupils learn the Earth's layers (crust, mantle, outer core, inner core) and the «spheres»: lithosphere (rock), hydrosphere (water), atmosphere (air) and biosphere (living things). The lithosphere's plates move slowly, causing earthquakes, volcanoes and mountains. Phrases: «the Earth's lithosphere», «oceanic lithosphere».

### examples

- The lithosphere is broken into tectonic plates. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lithosphere/#x1)
- The lithosphere includes the crust and the top of the mantle. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lithosphere/#x2)
- Earthquakes happen when parts of the lithosphere move. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lithosphere/#x3)
- The lithosphere floats on a softer layer called the asthenosphere. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lithosphere/#x4)
- Rocks, mountains and soil are part of the lithosphere. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lithosphere/#x5)
- The lithosphere is thinner under the oceans than under continents. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lithosphere/#x6)

### note

Uncountable, used with «the». Pronounced «LITH-oh-sfeer». From Greek «lithos» = stone. Not quite the same as «the crust»: the lithosphere is the crust plus the stiff upper mantle. Myth: the mantle is not a sea of liquid lava; it is mostly solid rock that flows very slowly.

### In the corpora

- [The crust and the stiff top of the mantle together form the lithosphere, the hard shell that is broken into plates.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/41-inside-the-earth/15/)
- [The lithosphere is broken into about 15 large plates and many smaller ones that fit together like a cracked jigsaw.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/42-plate-tectonics/5/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «lithosphere» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lithosphere/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.