Lithosphere Rheology

These flashcards cover key concepts and terminology related to lithosphere rheology, including definitions and explanations of critical terms.

Rheology

The study of deformation and the flow of materials under the influence of applied stress.

Mohorovičić discontinuity

The boundary between the Earth's crust and the underlying mantle.

Lithosphere

The strong, outermost layer of the Earth, consisting of the crust and the uppermost mantle.

Asthenosphere

The layer beneath the lithosphere that is much weaker and reacts to stress in a fluid manner.

Brittle-ductile transition

The depth at which deformation switches from dominantly brittle to dominantly ductile mechanisms.

Byerlee’s law

A principle stating that strength increases linearly with depth due to greater normal stress along fault surfaces.

Weakness of quartz

Quartz is the weakest mineral controlling strength in the middle and lower continental crust.

Lithosphere-Asthenosphere Boundary

A rheological boundary dependent on temperature, marking the transition from the lithosphere to the asthenosphere.

Lithospheric strength envelopes

Graphical representations of the variation in strength vs. depth in the lithosphere.

Olivine

A strong mineral found in the mantle that deforms differently under pressure compared to quartz.