Editing Lithosphere (section)

=== History of the concept ===
The concept of the lithosphere as Earth's strong outer layer was described by the English mathematician [[Augustus Edward Hough Love|A. E. H. Love]] in his 1911 monograph "Some problems of Geodynamics" and further developed by the American geologist [[Joseph Barrell]], who wrote a series of papers about the concept and introduced the term "lithosphere".<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=30056401|last=Barrell|first=J.|date=1914|title=The strength of the Earth's crust|journal=[[Journal of Geology]]|volume=22|pages=289–314|doi=10.1086/622155|issue=4|bibcode=1914JG.....22..289B|s2cid=118354240}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|jstor=30067162|last=Barrell|first=J.|date=1914|title=The strength of the Earth's crust|journal=[[Journal of Geology]]|volume=22|pages=441–468|doi=10.1086/622163|issue=5|bibcode=1914JG.....22..441B|s2cid=224833672}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|jstor=30060774|last=Barrell|first=J.|date=1914|title=The strength of the Earth's crust|journal=[[Journal of Geology]]|volume=22|pages=655–683|doi=10.1086/622181|issue=7|bibcode=1914JG.....22..655B|s2cid=224832862}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|jstor=30067883|last=Barrell|first=J.|date=1914|title=The strength of the Earth's crust|journal=[[Journal of Geology]]|volume=22|pages=537–555|doi=10.1086/622170|issue=6|bibcode=1914JG.....22..537B|s2cid=128955134}}</ref> The concept was based on the presence of significant gravity anomalies over continental crust, from which he inferred that there must exist a strong, solid upper layer (which he called the lithosphere) above a weaker layer which could flow (which he called the [[asthenosphere]]). These ideas were expanded by the Canadian geologist [[Reginald Aldworth Daly]] in 1940 with his seminal work "Strength and Structure of the Earth."<ref>Daly, R. (1940) ''Strength and structure of the Earth''. New York: Prentice-Hall.</ref> They have been broadly accepted by geologists and geophysicists.  These concepts of a strong lithosphere resting on a weak asthenosphere are essential to the theory of [[plate tectonics]].{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}