If a layer is rigid and divided into plates which layer is it?

Correct answer: Lithosphere

The direct answer is B, Lithosphere. The lithosphere is the hard, strong outer layer of Earth. It includes the crust and the rigid uppermost mantle. This layer is broken into large and small tectonic plates. Step by step: a rigid layer does not flow easily; Earth’s outer rigid shell is called the lithosphere; this shell is divided into plates; therefore B is correct. A, the asthenosphere, lies below the lithosphere and is hotter, weaker and capable of slow flow, so it helps plates move rather than being the plates themselves. C, the outer core, is liquid metal deep inside Earth and is not divided into surface plates. D, the inner core is solid, but it is a central metallic sphere, not a plate-bearing outer shell. Memory cue: “Litho means stone”; think of a stone-like shell broken into plates.