Lithosphere is the brittle uppermost shell of the earth, broken into a number of tectonic plates.
The lithosphere consists of the heavy oceanic and lighter continental crusts, and the uppermost portion of the mantle. The crust and mantle are separated by the Moho or Mohorovicic discontinuity. The thickness of the lithosphere varies from to around 1.6 km at the mid-ocean ridges to approximately 130 km beneath older oceanic crust. The thickness of the continental lithospheric plates is probably around 300 km but is uncertain due to the irregular presence of the Moho discontinuity. The lithosphere rests on a soft layer called the asthenosphere, over which the plates of the lithosphere glide.