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GCSE Geography · key term
A hot, softer region of the upper mantle beneath the lithosphere, where rock can deform and flow very slowly.
Used by Edexcel and OCR
Paper 1
Revise: Structure and plate motionBeneath it lies the asthenosphere, a hotter, softer region of the upper mantle. Its rock is mostly solid, with some partial melting, but can deform and flow very slowly. This allows the rigid lithospheric plates above it to move.
Specification 1.2a · Paper 1, Paper 3
The weaker, deformable region of the upper mantle beneath the lithosphere, over which tectonic plates move.
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Below the lithosphere is the asthenosphere, a weaker, more deformable region of the upper mantle. The rigid plates can move over this slowly deforming material. Describing plates as ‘floating’ can be misleading: the asthenosphere is not a liquid sea.