Table of Contents
What is important about the asthenosphere?
The asthenosphere is important because it is the force behind the plate tectonic motion and continental drift. It lubricates the plate tectonics. The asthenosphere has a fluid-like properties with high viscosity that the crust rides on.
How hot is the asthenosphere?
As such, the lithosphere includes both the crust and the upper portion of the mantle, in which temperatures are less than 2,372°F (1, 300°C). The asthenosphere includes the portion of the mantle with temperatures above 2,372°F.
Is the asthenosphere hot or cold?
asthenosphere, zone of Earth’s mantle lying beneath the lithosphere and believed to be much hotter and more fluid than the lithosphere. The asthenosphere extends from about 100 km (60 miles) to about 700 km (450 miles) below Earth’s surface.
What statement describes the asthenosphere?
The asthenosphere is the highly viscous, mechanically weak and ductile region of the upper mantle of Earth. It lies below the lithosphere, at depths between approximately 80 and 200 km below the surface. The lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary is usually referred to as LAB. The asthenosphere is almost solid, although some of its regions could be molten. The lower boundary of the asthenosphere is not well defined. The thickness of the asthenosphere depends mainly on the temperature. However
How deep is the asthenosphere?
This decreasing in seismic waves velocity from lithosphere to asthenosphere could be caused by the presence of a very small percentage of melt in the asthenosphere. The lower boundary of the LVZ lies at a depth of 180–220 km, whereas the base of the asthenosphere lies at a depth of about 700 km.
What is the asthenosphere and the lithosphere?
The lithosphere is the layer of the earth that contains the coastal plates. The asthenosphere is the middle layer and the centrosphere is the region from the asthenosphere all the way to the center of the earth.
What are the layers of the asthenosphere?
According to the theory of plate tectonics, the asthenosphere is the repository for older and denser parts of the lithosphere that are dragged downward in subduction zones. The Earth consists of four concentric layers: inner core, outer core, mantle and crust.