Earth´s crust is Earth´s thick outer shell of rock, referring to less than 1% of the Earth´s radius and volume. It is the top component of ...
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the lithosphere, a division of Earth´s layers that includes the crust and the upper part of the mantle. The lithosphere is broken into tectonic plates whose motion allows heat to escape from the interior of the Earth into space.
The crust lies on top of the mantle, a configuration that is stable because the upper mantle is made of peridotite and is therefore significantly denser than the crust. The boundary between the crust and mantle is conventionally placed at the Mohorovičić discontinuity, a boundary defined by a contrast in seismic velocity.
