INDIAN GEOGRAPHY

Detailed explanation-1: -The material of which the asthenosphere is composed can be described as plastic-like, with much less rigidity than the lithosphere above it. This property is caused by the interaction of temperature and pressure on asthenospheric materials.

Detailed explanation-2: -Below the lithosphere within the upper portion of the mantle is a plastic layer of rock called the asthenosphere. According to the theory of plate tectonics, the plates are driven by convection cells located within the plastic asthenosphere.

Detailed explanation-3: -The asthenosphere is the semi-rigid part of the middle mantle that flows like hot asphalt under a heavy weight. The crust and the upper layer of the mantle together make up a zone of rigid, brittle rock called the Lithosphere.

Detailed explanation-4: -The relatively plastic layer of the upper mantle of the Earth on which the tectonic plates of the lithosphere move. The asthenosphere is approximately 200 km [124 miles] thick and, owing to its depth below the Earth’s surface, warm (  1, 400 degC [2, 640 degF]) but not molten.

Detailed explanation-5: -Temperature increases with depth in the earth and eventually the rock material of the mantle becomes partially molten. This partially molten layer is called the asthenosphere. Because it is partly molten (perhaps up to 10%) it becomes pliable or “plastic".