Earth is made up of several layers: the crust, the upper mantle, the lower mantle, and the core.
The crust is the brittle and rocky outermost layer. Beneath the crust is the mantle, which can be separated into two sections. The upper layer of the mantle is rocky, rigid, and mostly cool material. The lower layer of the mantle is hot and behaves like a liquid. Beneath the crust and mantle is Earth's core, the...
Earth is made up of several layers: the crust, the upper mantle, the lower mantle, and the core.
The crust is the brittle and rocky outermost layer. Beneath the crust is the mantle, which can be separated into two sections. The upper layer of the mantle is rocky, rigid, and mostly cool material. The lower layer of the mantle is hot and behaves like a liquid. Beneath the crust and mantle is Earth's core, the central layer with the highest temperatures.
The lithosphere, which translates literally to "rock sphere," is the combination of Earth's crust and the upper mantle. This layer is approximately 70-100km thick and "floats" on top of the liquid, plastic lower mantle. Additionally, there are two types of lithosphere: the oceanic lithosphere and the continental lithosphere. The oceanic lithosphere is thinner and denser than the continental lithosphere.
See the attached image from the National Geographic, which depicts Earth's layers to scale.
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