Lithosphere
The lithosphere is the solid, outer part of Earth. This includes the upper part of the mantle and the crust. The lithosphere is divided into large sections called tectonic plates. These plates shift around, and the contact or breaking away of these plates can cause volcanoes and earthquakes to form. The theory of Pangaea, or the idea of all of the Earth’s continents once being one landmass, came from the idea that the lithosphere was once all a single continent. However, with the tectonic plates breaking apart and constantly shifting, this caused the continents to be where there are today.
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