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LITHOEN

Earth layer

Crust

The outermost compositional layer of the Earth: thin, rigid and brittle compared with the layers beneath it, and markedly thinner under the oceans than under the continents.

Classification

division basis
compositional

How this record is known

2
Settled consensus
Cited as the accepted position of the discipline.

2 of 2 claims on this page cite at least one registered source. Counts describe how each statement is known, not how likely it is to be true.

What Lithoen records

Each claim states how it is known and cites its evidence.

Established30 km

The crust beneath the continents averages about 30 kilometres thick, and can be as deep as 100 kilometres under large mountain ranges.

  • locality: Beneath the continents (average).
  • precision note: Highly variable; as deep as 100 km under large mountain ranges such as the Alps or the Sierra Nevada.

Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence one source

Evidence: Kious 1996 Primary authority

Established5 km

Beneath the oceans the crust varies little in thickness, generally extending only to about 5 kilometres.

  • locality: Beneath the oceans.
  • precision note: About 5 km; varies little, as stated by the source.

Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence one source

Evidence: Kious 1996 Primary authority

In the knowledge graph

Record last updated 2026-09-06. Corrections follow the published corrections policy; superseded claims are retained, never silently edited.