asthenosphere

asthenosphere
/as then"euh sfear'/, n. Geol.
the region below the lithosphere, variously estimated as being from fifty to several hundred miles (eighty-five to several hundred kilometers) thick, in which the rock is less rigid than that above and below but rigid enough to transmit transverse seismic waves.
[1910-15; < Gk asthen(és) frail (see ASTHENIA) + -O- + -SPHERE]

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Zone of the Earth's mantle lying beneath the lithosphere, believed to be much hotter and more fluid than the lithosphere.

The asthenosphere is thought to extend from about 60 mi (100 km) to about 450 mi (700 km) below the Earth's surface.

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Universalium. 2010.

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