The asthenosphere (from Ancient Greek ἀσθενός (asthenós) 'without strength') is the mechanically weak and ductile region of the upper mantle of Earth...

The lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary (referred to as the LAB by geophysicists) represents a mechanical difference between layers in Earth's inner structure...

by the asthenosphere which is the weaker, hotter, and deeper part of the upper mantle that is able to convect. The lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary...

the asthenosphere is hotter and flows more easily. In terms of heat transfer, the lithosphere loses heat by conduction, whereas the asthenosphere also...

down. This releases water into the hotter asthenosphere, which leads to partial melting of the asthenosphere and volcanism. Both dehydration and partial...

lithosphere and the asthenosphere under the Juan de Fuca Plate. The study extends the theory of partial melt in the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary to subduction...

viscous asthenosphere. The oceanic lithosphere is formed at an oceanic ridge, while the lithosphere is subducted back into the asthenosphere at ocean...

as the result of the rigid lithosphere sliding down the hot, raised asthenosphere below mid-ocean ridges. Although it is called ridge push, the term is...

trench formation can occur. The tectonic plates ride on top of the asthenosphere, the solid but less-viscous part of the upper mantle that can flow and...

viscosity of the asthenosphere decreases with increasing temperature, and at the temperatures required for partial fusion, the asthenosphere would have such...

mantle, it has subsequently been interpreted in terms of lithosphere and asthenosphere, particularly with respect to oceanic island volcanoes, such as the...

the cold oceanic lithosphere is slightly denser than the underlying asthenosphere, the hot, ductile layer in the upper mantle underlying the cold, rigid...

structure consists of an outer silicate solid crust, a highly viscous asthenosphere and solid mantle, a liquid outer core whose flow generates the Earth's...

interior, except for the liquid outer core and pockets of magma in the asthenosphere. The study of rocks involves multiple subdisciplines of geology, including...

and are continuously moving very slowly upon a bed of magma in the asthenosphere and inner mantle. The plates converge upon one another, and one subducts...

relatively cooler oceanic crust, along with water, is subducted to the asthenosphere, where pressures and temperatures are much higher than the surface of...

associated in almost all cases with partial melting of the overlying asthenosphere due to the addition of volatiles (especially water) expelled from the...

the plastically deforming, solid, upper mantle, which is called the asthenosphere. This theory is supported by several types of observations, including...

the Earth is divided into an upper, lithosphere layer and a lower, asthenosphere layer. The lithosphere layer is composed of two parts, an upper, the...

of subducted crust material. Crust material that is forced into the asthenosphere melts, and some portion of the melted material becomes light enough...

interactive adaptive system. Earth systems across mountain belts include the asthenosphere (ductile region of the upper mantle), lithosphere (crust and uppermost...

buoyantly in the asthenosphere, with a ratio of mass below the "surface" in proportion to its own density and the density of the asthenosphere. If mass is...

in cratons. Such an old continental crust and the underlying mantle asthenosphere are less dense than elsewhere on Earth and so are not readily destroyed...

depression is the sinking of large parts of the Earth's crust into the asthenosphere caused by a heavy weight placed on the Earth's surface, often glacial...

rock of the upper oceanic crust is released into mantle rock of the asthenosphere above the sinking oceanic slab. The release of water from hydrated minerals...

gradient remains below the melting temperature of the rock, except in the asthenosphere. Sharp rises occur in the uppermost mantle and at the core–mantle boundary...

that move relative to each other on the underlying, relatively weak asthenosphere in a process ultimately driven by the continuous loss of heat from the...

surface of Earth results in melting of the down-going slab and convecting asthenosphere. This melting may be assisted by the presence of water in what is known...

lithospheric plate over a more or less fixed heat source in the underlying asthenosphere, the part of the Earth's mantle beneath the lithosphere. There are thought...

crust). Only beneath mid-ocean ridges does it define the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary (the depth at which the mantle becomes significantly ductile)...