Definition and Introduction
The continental lithosphere consists of the continental crust and, typically, some nonconvecting part of the underlying upper mantle (Fig. 1). In plate tectonics terms, the continental lithosphere is part of the rigid outer rind of the Earth, which is segmented into several major plates. The cold lithosphere lies atop a hotter, more mobile (low strength) asthenosphere. In this context, oceanic lithosphere for the most part obeys comparatively simple thermal models, with the boundary between lithosphere and asthenosphere represented by an isotherm marking the transition in mantle peridotite between elastic and ductile behavior (but see “Lithosphere, Oceanic”for the growing list of complications). By contrast, the continental lithosphere is heterogeneous and its structure highly variable. That contrast reflects the fact that oceanic lithosphere is formed in much the same way worldwide and that it is continually recycled into the interior of the Earth via the...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Bibliography
Boyd FR, McCallister RH (1976) Densities of fertile and sterile garnet peridotites. Geophys Res Lett 3(9):509–512
Carlson RW, Pearson DG, James DE (2005) Physical, chemical and chronological characteristics of continental mantle. Rev Geophys 43, RG1001, 1–24
Forsyth DW (1989) Lithosphere: mechanical properties. In: James D (ed) The encyclopedia of solid earth geophysics. Van Nostrand Rhinehold, New York, pp 655–660
James DE (2007) Crust and lithospheric structure – natural source portable array studies of the continental lithosphere. In: Dziewonski AM, Romanowicz B (eds) Treatise on geophysics. Elsevier, New York, pp 479–531
James DE, Fouch MJ (2002) Formation and evolution of Archaean cratons: insights from Southern Africa. In: Ebinger C, Fowler CMR, Hawkesworth CJ (eds) The early earth: physical, chemical and biological development. Geological Society, London, pp 1–26
James DE, Boyd FR, Schutt D, Bell DR, Carlson RW (2004) Xenolith constraints on seismic velocities in the upper mantle beneath southern Africa. G-cubed 5:1–32. https://doi.org/10.1029/2003GC000551(Q01002)
Jordan TH (1978) Composition and structure of the continental tectosphere. Nature 274:544–548
Jordan TH (1981) Continents as a chemical boundary layer. In: The origin and evolution of the Earth’s continental crust. Trans Roy Soc London Ser A 301(1461):359–373
MacGregor ID, Manton WI (1986) Roberts Victor eclogites: ancient oceanic crust. J Geophys Res 91:14063–14079
Morgan P (1984) The thermal structure and thermal evolution of the continental lithosphere. Phys Chem Earth 16:107–193
Pollack HN (1986) Cratonization and thermal evolution of the mantle. Earth Planet Sci Lett 80:175–182
Ritsema J, van Heijst H (2000) New seismic model of the upper mantle beneath Africa. Geology (Boulder) 28(1):63–66
Romanowicz B (2009) The thickness of tectonic plates. Science 324:474–476
Rudnick RL, McDonough WF, O’Connell RJ (1998) Thermal structure, thickness and composition of continental lithosphere. Chem Geol 145:395–411
Rychert CA, Shearer P (2009) A global view of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary. Science 324:495–498
Rychert CA, Fischer KM, Rondenay S (2005) Scattered wave imaging of a sharp lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary beneath eastern North America. Nature 436:542–545
Sacks IS, Snoke JA (1977) The use of converted phases to infer the depth of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary beneath South America. J Geophys Res 82:2011–2017
Shapiro SS, Hager BH, Jordan TH (1999) Stability and dynamics of the continental tectosphere. In: van der Hilst RD, McDonough WF (eds) Composition, deep structure and evolution of continents. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 115–133
Shirey SB, Carlson RW, Richardson SH, Menzies AH, Gurney JJ, Pearson DG, Harris JW, Wiechert U (2001) Emplacement of eclogite components into the lithospheric mantle during craton formation. Geophys Res Lett 28(13):2509–2512
Sipkin SA, Jordan TH (1980) Multiple ScS travel times in the Western Pacific: implications for mantle heterogeneity. J Geophys Res 85:853–861
West JD, Fouch MJ, Roth JB, Elkins-Tanton LT (2009) Vertical mantle flow associated with a lithospheric drip beneath the Great Basin. Nat Geosci 2:439–444
Zandt G, Gilbert HJ, Owens TJ, Ducea M, Saleeby J, Jones CH (2004) Active foundering of a continental arc root beneath the southern Sierra Nevada in California. Nature 431:41–46
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
James, D.E. (2020). Lithosphere, Continental. In: Gupta, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Solid Earth Geophysics. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10475-7_32-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10475-7_32-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-10475-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-10475-7
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences