The lithosphere is composed of both the crust and the portion of the upper mantle that behaves as a brittle, rigid solid. The asthenosphere is partially molten upper mantle material that behaves plastically and can flow.

Oceanic crust is composed of magma that erupts on the seafloor to create basalt lava flows or cools deeper down to create the intrusive igneous rock gabbro. Sediments, primarily muds and the shells of tiny sea creatures, coat the seafloor. Sediment is thickest near the shore where it comes off the continents in rivers and on wind currents.

Continental crust is made up of many different types of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. The average composition is granite, which is much less dense than the mafic igneous rocks of the oceanic crust.

	Erstellt von Juan Ignacio Guerrero López vor mehr als 5 Jahre

March 3, 2021