The lithosphere is the Earth's rocky crust, formed of minerals and divided into tectonic plates that interact with each other. Internal forces like folding and faulting, along with external agents such as water and wind, shape the Earth's relief, leading to features like mountains, valleys, and plains. Continental drift theory explains how continents once formed a supercontinent called Pangaea, which broke apart due to tectonic movement.

1. María Jesús Campos
learningfromgeography.wikispaces.com

2. Lithosphere
Itcomes from the
ancient Greek “lithos”
which means stone and
“sphaira” which means
sphere.
Itrefers to the solid
rocky crust that covers
the Earth.
The crust is composed
of minerals.

3.  The crust is a solid layer that floats over
the mantle’s magma.It represents 1% of
the Earth’s volume but it has different
thickness and length.
 The crust is divided into tectonic plates
that move over the mantle.
 The crust presents different
shapes, lenghts, etc. Some times it
appears under the oceans and others
over the sea surface. This is called the
Earth’s relief.
 The shapes of the Earth’s relief changes
thanks to internal forces and external
agents.

4.  200 million years ago all the
continents were united into a
single supercontinent called
Pangea.
 Pangea broke up because of
the internal forces of the
mantel and the tectonic
plates gradually moved apart.
This theory is called
continental drift.
 Tectonic plates slide against
each other or move apart.
Thus, the plate’s boundaries
are unstable.

8.  Internal forces and pressures from the mantle causes
the crust to:
 Fold: are deformations of the Earth’s surface where
rock layers bend.
 Fault: are breaks in rock layers where the rock is too
hard to bend.
 Subducts: when one rock layer from a plate sinks
under the other and its materials melts into the
mantle’s magma.

10.  Sometimes this pressures
apperar in the form of :
 Earhtquakes:
they happen when
energy is released in
seismic waves from a
focus or hypocentre
inside the Earth usually
when the boundaries of
the plates slide against
each other.
 Volcanoes:
are cracks on the
Earth’s crust and
magma from the
mantle erupts ro the
surface and solidifies
creating new crust.

11.  The external agents
that shape the
Earth’s surface are:
 Water
 Wind
 Vegetation
 They erode relief
breaking it up and
transporting and
depositing eroded
materials on a
different place.
 Although human
beings are not
natural agents they
also modify relief.

12.  The crust presents different
shapes, lenghts, etc. Some times it appears
under the oceans and other times it appears
over the sea surface. This is called the Earth’s
relief.
 The Earth’s relief comprises the forms and
shapes of the Earth’s surface.

13.  Sometimes the Earth’s  The North Pole is not a
crust appears over the continent because it is
sea surface and other formed by frosted
times under the sea water.
surface.
 Continents are
 Over the sea surface separated by oceans or
there are 6 continents: seas:
 Africa  Pacific Ocean
 Europe  Atlantic Ocean
 América  Indian Ocean
 Asia  Artic Ocean
 Oceania  Antartic Ocean or
 Antarctica Southern Ocean
 Mediterranean Sea
 Read Sea

15.  Mountains: High  Valley: elongated lowland
elevations of the Earth’s between ranges of
surface. When they are mountains or hills.
grouped together it is
called range.
 Península: land mass
 Plateau: high flat areas entirely surrounded by
that are formed from water except in one part
eroded mountains. connected with the
mainland which is called
 Plain: low flat areas. isthmus.
Alluvial plains are formed
by rivers and coastal  Island: a land mass
plains are near the sea. entirely surrounded by
water.
 Basins: very low areas
sometimes below sea  Cape: part of the coast
level. that projects into the sea.

18.  Gulf: large area of a  Continental slope: the
sea or ocean partially descent from the
enclosed by land. continental shelf to the
 Bay: small area of a ocean bottom.
sea or ocean partially  Abyssal plain: huge
enclosed by land. under water plains that
 Ría: long narrow inlet have an extension
of the seacoast in between 3000 and
which the sea occupies 7000 metres deep.
the mouth of the river.  Ocean trench: long
 Continental shelf: valley on the ocean floor
great underwater that can have 11000
plateau which metres deep.
correspondt to the  Ocean ridge:
border of a continent underwater mountain
and is usually less than ranges.
400 metres deep.

20. Created by María Jesús Campos
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