The lithosphere, Greek for "rocky sphere," is the outermost shell of the Earth. It is a relatively thin layer, 50-100 km thick under the oceans, 150 km thick on the continents. This website....
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-lithosphere.htm
....includes a heap of information
:D
The lithosphere is the solid outer section of Earth, which includes Earth's crust (the "skin" of rock on the outer layer of planet Earth), as well as the underlying cool, dense, and rigid upper part of the upper mantle.
The top most layer of the mantel in side the earth
The lithosphere is the rigid outermost part of a solid planet. The lithosphere of the Earth comprises the crust and the upper mantle.