Lithosphere of these xenoliths have been investigated by many methods, including analyses of abundances of isotopes of osmium and rhenium. Such studies have confirmed that mantle lithospheres below some cratons have persisted for periods in excess of 3 billion years, despite the mantle flow that accompanies plate tectonics. Lithosphere A lithosphere ( ["lithos"] for "rocky", and ["sphaira"] for "sphere") is the rigid, outermost shell of a terrestrial-type planet, or natural satellite, that is defined by its rigid mechanical properties. On Earth, it is composed of the crust and the portion of the upper mantle that behaves elastically on time scales of
Common name in English, including “stone curlews”, so the choice of the name “thick-knees” is not easy to defend but is a clear illustration of the hazards of the facile coinage of terminology. For collective nouns for various subjects see a list of collective nouns (e.g. a flock of sheep, pack of wolves) Some organizations have created official lists of common names, or guidelines for creating common names, hoping to standardize the use of common names. For example, the Australian Fish Names List or AFNS was compiled through a process involving work by taxonomic and seafood industry experts, drafted using the CAAB