This crust and upper mantle form what is called the lithosphere. Under the lithosphere lies a fluid rock layer called the asthenosphere. The rocks in the asthenosphere move in a fluid manner because of the high temperatures and pressures found there. Tectonic plates are able to float upon the fluid asthenosphere because they are made of rigid lithosphere. A. Continental Crust Print section The earth's solid surface is about 40 percent continental crust.
Continental crust is much older, thicker and less dense than oceanic crust.
Oceanic crust makes up the other 60 percent of the earth's solid surface. Oceanic crust is, in general, thin and dense. This production of crust does not increase the physical size of the earth, so the material produced at mid-ocean ridges must be recycled, or consumed, somewhere else. Geologists believe it is recycled back into the earth in areas called subduction zones, where one plate sinks underneath another and the crust of the sinking plate melts back down into the earth. Oceanic crust is continually recycled so that its age is generally not greater than 200 million years.