Traditional View Point on Lithosphere

The word ‘Litho’ in Greek means ‘Rocky’.

Definition of the Lithosphere:

·        The Lithosphere is the solid, rocky crust covering entire planet.

·       The Lithosphere is the rigid outermost shell of a rocky planet defined on the basis of the mechanical properties.

Where is the Lithosphere spread?

The Lithosphere is spread on the entire surface of the earth from the top of Mount Everest to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

How was the Lithosphere formed?

The Lithosphere began as a hot ball of the matter which formed the Earth about 4.6 billion years ago.About 3.2 billion years ago, the Earth cooled down considerably.  On the cooled Earth, the life began to flourish.

What is it composed of?

The Lithosphere is composed of the inorganic crust, composed of various minerals. 

The outermost shell of a rocky planet defined on the basis of the chemistry and mineralogy is a crust.

How dense is the crust?

The crust is about 6-7 KM thick and it lies under the continents.

How many elements are there in the Lithosphere?

There are about 92 elements in the Lithosphere.

What are the common constituents of the Lithosphere?

There are 8 common constituents in the Lithosphere.  They are:

	Constituent	Percentage by volume
1	Oxygen	47%
2	Silicon	28%
3	Aluminum	8%
4	Iron	5%
5	Sodium	3%
6	Magnesium	3%
7	Potassium	3%
8	Calcium	3%

How many varieties of minerals are present in the Lithosphere?

There are 92 elements in the Lithosphere and they form about 200 common mineral compounds.

Lithosphere useful for humans

Form of Lithosphere	Use
Soil	Soil is formed when the rocks are broken down either by physical weathering or chemical weathering.  It is the base for Agriculture.  Agriculture is the source of food for humans.
Stones Sand Gravels	All these are used in the process of construction.
Micro nutrients	These are in the soil.  These are essential for plant growth.
Microscopic flora Small soil fauna Soil-fungi	These are the living organisms and hence fall under the category of biosphere.  Yet, the entire life of all these happens in the Lithosphere only. These break down the plant litter and animal wastes to provide nutrients for plants.
Various Minerals	Various industries are based on these.
Oil Coal Gas etc.	These are extracted from the underground source.  These provide energy and power for industries, vehicles, agriculture, machinery and houses.

Lithosphere in the Indian Tradition

The word “Lithosphere” can be translated as “Mridavaranam” into Sanskrit. 

“Mrit” means the soil; “Avaranam” means the sphere.

Mrit is spread all over the surface of the Earth and beneath the oceans as well.

It can be even called as the “Prithvi”.

Prithvi is categorized as “Dravya”. (Substance, the first among the Saptapadarthas)

Prithvi is classified as the first among the Dravyas. (The Earth, the first among the Navadravyas)

The General properties of the Prithvi are described by the Indians like this:

*Prithvi is that which is possesses odour. It means, the special quality of the Prithvi is the odour.  This quality is not found in any other padarthas or dravyas.  Prithvi has other qualities also such as colour, taste etc.

*It is of two sorts: eternal and non-eternal;

The first (eternal) is atomic and the second (non-eternal) is a product.

*The Earth is again divided into three sorts:

a) Body b) Organof sense c) Gross matter.

a) The body is that which belongs to the human beings and other living creatures etc. 

b) The organ of senseis the organ of smell which apprehends the odour and is situated at the root of the nose.

c) The Gross matter is in the form of the soil and the stones etc.

Few Indian words of Sanskrit origin are capable of conveying some properties of the Lithosphere:

	Word	Meaning	Properties/forms suggested by the word
1 2 3	Mahidhra Kshmabhrit Bhudhara	Mountain	It holds the Earth.  (Crust)
4	Adri	Mountain	Provides various kinds of food to various living creatures.
5 6	Saila Silocchaya	Mountain	It contains rocks.
7	Lokaloka	Mountain	A part of it is visible outside on the Earth and the remaining part is not visible as it is spread under the ground.
8	Chakravala	Mountain	The rockymountains that have surrounded the Earth.
9 10	Pashana Upala	Rock/ Stone	It is very hard and can break other things.
11	Asma	Rock	It shields all the Earth.
12	Rasa	Earth	It contains various tastes in it.
13	Kshiti	Earth	It is the base of the life.
14 15	Vasumati Vasundhara	Earth	It contains rich minerals in it.
16	Prithvi	Earth	It is spread so vast.
17 18	Mrit Mrittika	Soil	It is soft and unconsolidated.
19	Mritsna	Soil	Fine variety of the soil. (Alluvial soil)
20	Ushara	A variety of land	Saline land
21	Maru	A variety of land	The land where the soil does not ingest the water.
22 23	Khila Prahata	A variety of land	The land of hard soil where ploughing is not easy.
24	Pankila	A variety of land	The land of muddy soil.
25 26	Anupa Kaccha	A variety of land	The land where the surface is partially drenched always with the water.
27	Sarkaravati	A variety of land	The land of sweet soil.
28	Sikatavati	A variety of land	The land of sand. (River bank/Desert/Seashore)
29	Khani	Mine	The land where various jewels are found under the ground.
30	Akara	Mine	Mineral Deposit
31 32	Dhatu Gairika	Mineral	Various minerals such as Gold, Silver, Copper etc.
33	Guha/ Bila	Cave Hollow	Shelter for darkness even during the time of broad day light.

The above details make us understand that the Ancestors of the Indians had a great observation of various properties of the land around them and scientific approach in remembering those qualities by giving various names to the land, rocks, mountains etc.

Observations in Ramayana

The following is the description of various Minerals found in various colours in the Ramayana -

K®cit Rajatasa´k¡¿¡Å K®cit KÀatajasannibh¡Å.

P¢tam¡µjiÀ¶havar¸¡¿ca K®cinma¸ivaraprabh¡Å..

PuÀy¡rkak®tak¡bh¡¿ca K®cijjy°t¢rasaprabh¡Å.

Vir¡jant®'cal®ndrasya D®¿¡ Dh¡tuvibh£Àit¡Å..

“These mountain rocks are shining in various colours reflected from various minerals… Some of them are white like silver.  Some are in red colour.  Some are in the mixed colour of red and yellow.  Some are in blackish blue colour.  Some are shining in the colour of crystals”.

          Names of some great Mountains and hills are mentioned in the ancient texts.  Few of them are – Himalaya, Chitrakuta, Rishyamuka, Prasravana, Vindhya, Mahendragiri, Trikuta, Malaya, Meru, Mandara, Suvela etc.

          There is a record of special variety of stones which can float on the water, with which they army of monkeys built a bridge across the sea to reach the Lanka, in the Ramayana.

          Ramayana mentioned even a Mountain called “Mainaka”, which could rise upwards and sink downwards in the sea waters, at will.

          Indians consider themselves the sons of Mother Earth.  “P£tr°haÆ P¤thivy¡Å.”

        In the Bhagavata, SriKrishna encouraged all his kinsmen to offer their honour to the mountains which nourish the humans, animals and plants but not to the invisible deities.

          In the BhagavadGita, Lord Krishna claimed himself the “Himalaya among the Mountains”.

          Indians built many of their holy temples on the Mountains.  As they visualize them to be the abodes of Gods, they consider them to be sacred and do not mount them with footwear.

          It seems that the thoughts of Indians were cautiously organized to protect the mountains and the environment.  Hail their feelings!