Lithosphere-Asthenosphere boundary found to become deeper under older crust, thus supporting the suggestion that the discontinuity is closely interrelated to the LAB. Beneath oceanic crust, the LAB ranges anywhere from 50 to 140 km in depth except at mid-ocean ridges where the LAB is no deeper than the depth of the new crust being created. Seismic evidence shows that oceanic plates do thicken with age. This would suggest that the Lithosphere-Asthenosphere boundary underneath oceanic lithosphere also deepens with plate age. Data from ocean seismometers indicate a sharp age-dependent LAB beneath the Pacific and Philippine plates and has been interpreted as evidence for
Lithosphere-Asthenosphere boundary extent of partial melt; these are factors that affect the rheological differences in the lithosphere and asthenosphere. The lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary represents a rheological boundary. Colder temperatures at Earth's shallower depths affect the viscosity and strength of the lithosphere. Colder material in the lithosphere resists flow while the "warmer" material in the asthenosphere contributes to its lower viscosity. The increase in temperature with increasing depth is known as the geothermal gradient and is gradual within the rheological boundary layer. The lithosphere is the portion of the thermal boundary layer commonly defined by its purely conductive heat transport. Throughout the rheological boundary,