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The soft, weak upper portion of the mantle is known as the asthenosphere. It lies beneath the lithosphere and is composed of partially molten rock that allows the rigid lithospheric plates to float and move over it. This movement is a key driver of plate tectonics, leading to geological phenomena such as earthquakes and volcanic activity.

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What are the 2 parts of the lithospheric plates?

The lithospheric plates are made up of the crust and the uppermost part of the mantle. These plates float on the semi-fluid asthenosphere beneath them.


Plasticlike layer of Earth on which the lithosperic plates float and move around?

The plasticlike layer of Earth is the asthenosphere. It is a zone of the upper mantle where rock is soft and capable of gradual flow. The lithospheric plates float and move on top of the asthenosphere, contributing to the movement of tectonic plates.


What layer of the mantle contains tectonic plates?

The lithosphere, which includes the rigid outermost layer of the Earth's mantle, is responsible for the movement and formation of tectonic plates. These plates float on the semi-fluid asthenosphere below and interact with each other at plate boundaries, leading to processes like subduction and spreading.


What are the earths plates floating on?

The surface of the Earth is divided into roughly 30 separately distinct units called plates. Each individual plate is separated by a fault, and each plate moves independently of every other plate. The movement, or float, of the lithospheric plates is caused by heat from the Earth's interior, which causes convection currents in the Earth's mantle, a layer of solid but movable plastic-like rock. The movement of Earth's lithospheric plate which 'float' on the mantle is very slow in human terms, roughly the rate of fingernail growth, but over millions of years, the change in plate locations is dramatic.


What does the crust float on?

The crust rides or floats on the mantle. :)

Related Questions

What are the 2 parts of the lithospheric plates?

The lithospheric plates are made up of the crust and the uppermost part of the mantle. These plates float on the semi-fluid asthenosphere beneath them.


What layer do the lithospheric plates float around on?

Asthenosphere


Which layer of earth is the athenosphere part of?

The asthenosphere is part of the upper mantle, which lies beneath the Earth's lithosphere. It is a semi-fluid layer of the mantle that allows the lithospheric plates to move and float on top of it.


Explain how plate tectnonics and why they occur?

Lithospheric plates made up of the upper mantle and crust float on the soft, flowing aesthenosphereand are moved around by the flow of the aesthenosphere caused by convection from the core.


Plasticlike layer of Earth on which the lithosperic plates float and move around?

The plasticlike layer of Earth is the asthenosphere. It is a zone of the upper mantle where rock is soft and capable of gradual flow. The lithospheric plates float and move on top of the asthenosphere, contributing to the movement of tectonic plates.


Do tectonic plates 'float' on the surface of the mantle?

The tectonic plates (the lithosphere) are made of the crust and upper brittle part of the mantle. They 'float' on the hotter and softer mantle below, which is still a solid, but can flow like plasticine (the asthenosphere)


What is lithospheric plate movement?

The lithosphere is the solid part of the Earth's surface, the crust and uppermost mantle, which is fragmented into plates which "float" over the hotter, more fluid asthenosphere.


Tectonic plates float on a layer of the earth called the?

The outer layer of the earth where the land masses are is called the crust


What is the definition for lithospheric plate?

The definition of Lithospheric Plate is:) Lithospheric plates are regions of Earth's crust and upper mantle that are fractured into plates that move across a deeper plasticine mantle. Also Qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm has nothing to do with it.


What layer of the mantle contains tectonic plates?

The lithosphere, which includes the rigid outermost layer of the Earth's mantle, is responsible for the movement and formation of tectonic plates. These plates float on the semi-fluid asthenosphere below and interact with each other at plate boundaries, leading to processes like subduction and spreading.


Do the plates float on the mantle?

Tectonic plates float on the mantle because they are less dense


Why do the plates float on the mantle?

Tectonic plates float on the mantle because they are less dense