Edutore.com – The lithosphere is the outermost layer of the earth’s crust. It can also be said that the lithosphere is a layer of the earth’s skin because it is at the top or outermost. The lithosphere itself is classified into two types namely Continental and Oceanic Lithosphere. See a more complete explanation of the Lithosphere below, Reader:
Definition of Lithosphere
The word lithosphere comes from the Greek lithos meaning rock, and sphera meaning layer.
The lithosphere is the outermost layer of the earth’s crust and consists of rocks with an average thickness of 1200 km. The lithosphere is the uppermost layer of the earth’s crust that consists of rocks, generally this layer is formed from chemical compounds rich in SO2.
That is why the lithosphere layer is often called the silicate layer. According to Klarke and Washington, rocks or lithosphere on the surface of the earth is almost 75% composed of silicon oxide and aluminum oxide. The lithosphere is the outermost layer of the earth’s crust made up of rocks and minerals. The rocks that make up the lithosphere are igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks, and metamorphic rocks. The parent of all these rocks is magma. The earth’s crust is divided into two types, namely the sial layer at the top and the sima layer at the bottom.
The sial layer is the upper crust which consists of two types of crust, namely oceanic crust and continental crust. The main constituents of the lithosphere are rocks consisting of a mixture of similar or dissimilar minerals that are loosely or densely bound together. The parent rock that forms the lithosphere is magma, which is molten molten rock that has a very high temperature and is found under the earth’s crust. Magma will undergo several change processes until it becomes igneous rock, sedimentary rock and metamorphic rock.
The lithosphere plays an important role in plant life. Soil is formed when rocks on the surface of the lithosphere undergo degradation, erosion and other physical processes into small rocks to sand. Further, this part is mixed with the input of organic components of living things which then form soil that can be used as a place for organisms to live. Soil is a source of various types of minerals for living things.
In their original form, these minerals are in the form of rocks that are layered on the surface of the earth. Through the process of erosion, minerals that are a source of food for living things are often carried by rivers to the sea and deposited on the seabed.
Learn more about the structure of the earth’s layers including the atmosphere through the Smart Encyclopedia: Our Earth book which also explains various other important information for Reader to know about our earth.
Functions of the Lithosphere
The lithosphere is a part of the earth that directly affects life and has a very large benefit for life on earth. The upper lithosphere is where humans, animals and plants live. Humans perform activities on the lithosphere. Furthermore, the lower lithosphere contains mineral materials that are very beneficial for humans. Minerals or minerals that come from the lower lithosphere include petroleum and gas, gold, coal, iron, nickel and tin.
Discussions about atmospheric layers, and much more Reader can find in the book Super Fun Encyclopedia: Hello, Earth! Hemma’s work.
As explained above, the lithosphere is the uppermost layer of the earth’s crust. Therefore, the lithosphere is a layer that can be inhabited by humans. In the lithosphere, humans live and grow. Carrying out all activities in his life. The lithosphere also provides the materials needed by humans to meet their needs. In this layer, humans can build shelters, grow crops, make agricultural land, plantations and others.
- Serves as a place for living things to live their lives
- The rocks that make up the lithosphere can be used in various fields (most industrial fields)
- The compiler can also be used as a source of energy as well as the fulfillment of other human needs.
- The minerals that make up the lithosphere can be used for many things such as building materials, household appliances, the electronics industry, jewelry, and so on.
Layer Structure of the Earth’s Skin (Lithosphere)
Rocks are not only hard things in the form of stones in everyday life, but also in the form of clay, volcanic ash, sand, gravel and so on. The thickness of the earth’s crust is uneven, the crust of the earth on the continent or land is thicker than under the ocean. The earth is made up of several layers, namely:
- The barosphere is the core layer of the earth which is a solid material made up of the nife layer (niccolum = nickel and ferrum = iron) of the barispheric radius ± 3,470 km.
- The intermediate layer is the layer found above the 1700 km thick nife. This layer is also called asthenosphere mautle/mautel, is a liquid material with high temperature and glowing. Its specific weight is 5 gr/cm3. The lithosphere is the outermost layer located above the intermediate layer with a thickness of 1200 km and an average density of 2.8 grams/cm3.
Parts of the Lithospheric Layer This layer also consists of two parts namely the Sial layer and the Sima layer:
- The Sial layer is the layer of the Earth’s skin that is composed of silicon and aluminum metals, the compounds in the form of SiO2 and Al2O3. In this sial (silicon and aluminum) layer, among others, there are sedimentary rocks, granite, andesite, types of metamorphic rocks, and other rocks found on continental land.
- Sima layer The Sima layer (silicon magnesium) is the layer of the Earth’s skin that is composed of silicon and magnesium metals in the form of SiO2 and MgO compounds. This layer has a greater specific gravity than the sial layer because it contains iron and magnesium, which are ferro magnesium minerals and basalt rocks. The rocks that make up the Earth’s crust always undergo a cycle or cycle, that is, rocks undergo a change in form from magma, igneous rock, sedimentary rock, metamorphic rock, and return to magma again.
Learn about the layers of the earth through story books with interesting science content that can be accessed through smartphones. Smart Science Book Series: Earth’s Layers and Fossils – Alpha & Mega Travel to Earth you can only get at Sinaumedia!
Materials that make up the Lithosphere
The lithosphere is composed of three main types of material with the basic material of its formation being Magma with various different processes. Here are the rock materials that make up the lithosphere,
Igneous Rock
Igneous rocks are rocks formed from incandescent magma that solidified, with about 80% of the rock material that makes up the earth’s crust being igneous. Based on where the frozen magma was formed. Igneous rocks are divided into three types:
- Igneous Rocks – Igneous rocks occur from the slow freezing of magma while still deep in the earth’s crust. Examples of deep igneous rocks are granite, diotite, and gabbro.
- Gang/Korok Igneous Rocks – Korok igneous rocks occur from magma that freezes in the passageway between the magma chamber and the earth’s surface. Magma that permeates between the layers of the lithosphere undergoes a freezing process that takes place faster, so that the mineral crystals that are formed are not all large. A mixture of mineral crystals of unequal size is characteristic of igneous rocks.
- External Igneous Rock – External igneous rock occurs from the magma that comes out of the magma furnace and freezes on the surface of the earth (such as magma from a volcanic eruption). Examples of external igneous rocks are: basalt, diorite, andesite, obsidian, scoria, pumice.
Sedimentary Rock
Sedimentary rocks are mineral rocks that have formed on the surface of the earth that have weathered. The parts that come off from the results of weathering are detached and transported by water flow, wind, or by glaciers which are then deposited or sedimented and the process of diagenesis occurs which causes the sediment to harden and become a sediment aid. Sedimentary rocks based on their formation process consist of: Clastic Sedimentary Rocks Chemical Sedimentary Rocks.
Organic Sedimentary Rocks
Based on the energy that transports it, Sedimentary Rock consists of:
- Aeris or Aeolis Sedimentary Rock
- Glacial Sedimentary Rocks
- Aquatic Sedimentary Rocks
- Marine Sedimentary Rocks
- Malihan Rock (Metamorph)
- Malihan rocks are formed due to an increase in temperature or an increase in high pressure and occur simultaneously in sedimentary rocks.
Malihan Rock (Metamorph)
Malihan rocks are formed due to an increase in temperature or an increase in high pressure and occur simultaneously in sedimentary rocks. Malian rocks consist of three types namely:
- Malihan Kontak rocks are metamorphic rocks that are formed sequentially due to the increase in temperature caused by the proximity of rocks to active magma. Because of that, usually the region of contact rock formation is not too wide. For example, marble rocks in Tulung Agung and bricks in Bukit BArisan.
- Malihan Dynamo Rock is a metamorphic rock formed due to high pressure accompanied by heat and impact. This pressure can come from other layers that are on top of the rock. An example is slate.
- Pneumatalitic contact metamorphic rocks (thermal-pneumatalitics) Pneumatalitic contact metamorphic rocks are a type of metamorphic rock that is formed due to the presence of other substances that enter the rock during the process of metamorphosis (change). In fact, the process is the same as contact rock or dynamo rock. It’s just that during that process there are other substances that enter the rocks. So that it produces different new rocks. An example of quartz that enters Borium gas will form a Topaz stone.