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GCSE Geography · key term
Earth's rigid outer shell, made of the crust and uppermost mantle and divided into tectonic plates.
Used by Edexcel and OCR
Paper 1
Revise: Structure and plate motionThe lithosphere is the rigid outer shell. It includes both the crust and the rigid uppermost mantle. It is broken into tectonic plates, so a plate is not simply a piece of crust.
Specification 1.2a · Paper 1, Paper 3
The rigid outer part of the Earth, consisting of the crust and uppermost mantle, divided into tectonic plates.
Distinguish the crust from the lithosphere: the lithosphere includes the crust and the rigid uppermost mantle.
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The crust and the rigid uppermost mantle together form the lithosphere. This is broken into large slabs called tectonic plates. A plate therefore includes mantle rock as well as crust.