Lithosphere 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 thousands of years or greater. The outermost shell of a rocky planet, the crust, is defined on the basis of its chemistry and mineralogy. The study of past and current formations of landscapes is called geomorphology. Earth's lithosphere includes the crust and the uppermost mantle, which constitute
Common name had not the author introduced into it so many new English names, that are to be found in no dictionary, and that do not preclude the necessity of learning with what Latin names they are synonymous. A tolerable idea may be given of the danger of too great a multiplicity of vulgar names, by imagining what geography would be, or, for instance, the Post-office administration, supposing every town had a totally different name in every language. Various bodies and the authors of many technical and semi-technical books do not simply adapt existing common names for various organisms; they try to