Scientific Committee on the Lithosphere International Lithosphere Program (SCL/ILP)

The Oceanic Lithosphere

1. Background: Mid-Ocean Ridges and the oceanic lithosphere 2. Methods of study of the oceanic lithosphere 3. Components of the oceanic lithosphere and their physical properties 4. Structure of the oceanic lithosphere 4.1 ‘Homogeneous’ lithosphere 4.2 ‘Heterogeneous’ lithosphere 4.3 Hot Spot Influenced Lithosphere 4.4.Continent to Ocean Transition 5. Forming the oceanic lithosphere at the ridge...

The lithosphere under stress

I discuss thermal, rheological and compositional definitions of the Earth’s lithosphere and describe the data that can be brought to bear in refining these definitions. Models of the behaviour of the lithosphere are useful in describing such diverse effects as continental basin subsidence, the flexural response to imposed loads such as seamounts or sediment accumulations, the partial melting of...

On the Yield Strength of Oceanic Lithosphere

The yield strength of oceanic lithosphere determines the mode of mantle convection in a terrestrial planet, and low-temperature plasticity in olivine aggregates is generally believed to govern the plastic rheology of the stiffest part of lithosphere. Because, so far, proposed flow laws for this mechanism exhibit nontrivial discrepancies, we revisit the recent high-pressure deformation data of M...

Lithosphere, Asthenosphere, and Perisphere

"Lithosphere" is a mechanical concept implying strength and relative permanence. Unfortunately, the term has also been applied to the surface thermal boundary layer (TBL) and a shallow enriched geochemical reservoir, features having nothing to do with strength. The "strong" lithosphere is about one half the thickness of the TBL. The bottom of the elastic plate, the maximum depths of midplate an...

The seismic mid-lithosphere discontinuity