Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store
seo-qna
SearchIcon
banner

How is continental lithosphere different from oceanic lithosphere?

Answer
VerifiedVerified
546.6k+ views
Hint:Earth's lithosphere incorporates the outside and the highest mantle, which establishes the hard and inflexible external layer of the Earth. The lithosphere is partitioned into tectonic plates. The lithosphere is underlain by the asthenosphere, which is the more fragile, more blazing, and more profound piece of the upper mantle.

Complete answer:
Continental lithosphere
Continental lithosphere has a reach in thickness from around 40 km to maybe 280 km; the upper ~30 to ~50 km run of the mill continental lithosphere is crust. The crust is recognized from the upper mantle by the adjustment in chemical composition that happens at the Moho discontinuity. The most established pieces of continental lithosphere underlie cratons, and the mantle lithosphere there is thicker and less thick than typical; the moderately low thickness of such mantle " roots of cratons " assists with settling these districts.

Oceanic lithosphere
Oceanic lithosphere comprises primarily mafic outside layer and ultramafic mantle (peridotite) and is denser than continental lithosphere. Youthful oceanic lithosphere, found at mid-sea edges, is no thicker than the crust, yet oceanic lithosphere thickens as it ages and moves from the mid-sea edge. The most seasoned oceanic lithosphere is normally around 140 km thick. This thickening happens by conductive cooling, which changes over hot asthenosphere into lithospheric mantle and makes the oceanic lithosphere become progressively thick and thick with age. Truth be told, the oceanic lithosphere is a warm limit layer for the convection in the mantle.

Differences
The thing that matters is that the oceanic lithosphere is framed by oceanic crust and residual mantle. It establishes the bottoms of the seas and has a normal thickness of 150 km however in the incredible mountains that are in the lower part of the seas, the designated sea edges, its thickness is just 10 km. Conversely the continental lithosphere is framed by continental crust and residual mantle. Landmasses establish a continental lithosphere. It has a normal thickness of around 150 km.

Due to moderately low thickness of continental lithosphere, it is landing in a subduction zone and cannot subduct a lot farther than around 100 km (62 mi) prior to reemerging. Accordingly, continental lithosphere is not reused at subduction zones the manner in which oceanic lithosphere is reused. All things being equal, continental lithosphere is an almost perpetual element of the Earth.

The gravitational insecurity of the oceanic lithosphere has the impact that at subduction zones, oceanic lithosphere constantly sinks under the superseding lithosphere, which can be oceanic or continental. New oceanic lithosphere is continually being created at mid-sea edges and is reused back to the mantle at subduction zones. Thus, the oceanic lithosphere is a lot more youthful than continental lithosphere: the most established oceanic lithosphere is around 170 million years old, while parts of the continental lithosphere are billions of years old.

Note:The lithosphere can be partitioned into the oceanic and continental lithosphere. Oceanic lithosphere is related to the oceanic crust (having a mean thickness of about 2.9 grams per cubic centimeter) and exists in the ocean basins. Continental lithosphere is related to continental crust (having a mean thickness of about 2.7 grams per cubic centimeter) and underlies the landmasses and continental racks.