The layer or’ shell’ of the planet Earth that is located in the upper mantle beneath the lithosphere (q.v.). It is marked by the strong attenuation of seismic waves (James, 1989) and consequently also termed the ‘low velocity zone’. It is a structurally weak zone that behaves in a plastic manner, providing the accommodation medium for isostatic adjustment of the Earth's crust and horizontal motions for plate tectonics (q.v.). Its existence and name was proposed on theoretical grounds by Joseph Barrell (1914) based on the field evidence of crustal isostatic adjustment; the name is Greek-based meaning the ‘layer of no strength’.
The idea of a plastic layer beneath the crust had been mooted by earlier writers, notably Wegener in a series of articles on ‘continental drift’ from 1909 onward (in German; first English translation, 1924; newest, from his fourth edition, 1929/1966; see also Marvin, 1973). Wegener had the impression that the layer consisted of basalt, on which the granitic...
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Bibliography
Barrell, J. (1914) The strength of the Earth's crust. J. Geol., 22 (8 articles; also ibid. 1915, 23, 3 articles).
Bowes, D. R. (ed.) (1989) The Encyclopedia of Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 666 pp.
Garfunkel, Z. (ed.) (1985) Mantle Flow and Plate Theory. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold (Benchmark Papers in Geology, Vol. 84), 395 pp.
James, D. E. (ed.) (1989) The Encyclopedia of Solid Earth Geophysics. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1328 pp.
Marvin, U. (1973) Continental Drift: The Evolution of a Concept. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 239 pp.
Wegener, A. (1919) Die Enstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane, 4th ed. Braunschweig: F. Vieweg & Sohn, (transl. by J. Biram, as The Origin of Continents and Oceans, New York: Dover Publ., 1966, 246 pp.
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Fairbridge, R.W. (1997). Asthenosphere . In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Science. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4520-4_27
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4520-4_27
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