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What is asthenosphere in short answer?
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 is the importance of 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.
Why is the asthenosphere important?
The asthenosphere is now thought to play a critical role in the movement of plates across the face of Earth’s surface. Some observers have described the asthenosphere as the ‘lubricating oil’ that permits the movement of plates in the lithosphere.
What is the definition of the asthenosphere quizlet?
asthenosphere. the upper layer of the earth’s mantle, below the lithosphere, in which there is relatively low resistance to plastic flow and convection is thought to occur. plate tectonics theory.
What is asthenosphere 7th standard?
The asthenosphere is solid upper mantle material that is so hot that it behaves plastically and can flow. The rocks found in this zone which are mostly peridotite are quite solid in structure. The asthenosphere is the zone of the earth which lies beneath the lithosphere.
What is the meaning of the term asthenosphere?
The term asthenosphere is not part of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ). The concept is used to name the mantle layer located between two hundred and fifty and six hundred kilometers deep, below the area called lithosphere. The asthenosphere is made up of semi-cast and solid materials.
How does the heat from the asthenosphere help the Earth Move?
Heat from deep within Earth is thought to keep the asthenosphere malleable, lubricating the undersides of Earth’s tectonic plates and allowing them to move. Convection currents generated within the asthenosphere push magma upward through volcanic vents and spreading centres to create new crust.
Which is part of the crust rides atop the asthenosphere?
Recent Examples on the Web These pieces, divided between older continental crust and younger oceanic crust, ride atop the gooey asthenosphere, a semiliquid layer of magma and partly melted rock.
How does magma in the asthenosphere cause earthquakes?
Convection currents generated within the asthenosphere push magma upward through volcanic vents and spreading centres to create new crust. Convection currents also stress the lithosphere above, and the cracking that often results manifests as earthquakes. According to the theory of plate tectonics,…