{ "model": { "rank": 2689, "code": "thing-q83296", "model_id": "vr.tr.lithosphere", "name": "lithosphere", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to identify a lithospheric domain, assess its thermal and mechanical state, and judge which observations, interpretations and proposed interventions its evidence supports.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Physical world and living systems", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "PHY", "domain": "PHY.OBJ", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q83296/", "tier": 2, "score": 99, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "oceanic crust", "continental crust" ], "aliasCount": 2, "merged": 2, "knownIn": 99, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q83296", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q83296", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-07T11:06:15Z", "providers": [ "Codex", "Grok" ], "missingProviders": [], "pass": 2, "cost": { "grok": { "usd": 0.0108885, "turns": 1, "seconds": 127.6, "error": null }, "codex": { "seconds": 87, "error": "Reading additional input from stdin...\nOpenAI Codex v0.153.3\n--------\nworkdir: R:\\02_PROJECTS\\02_Meta_Models_Platforms\\Ver.cy\\current\\thing-registry-backlog\nmodel: gpt-6-astra\nprovider: openai\napproval: never\nsandbox: read-only\nreasoning effort: none\nreasoning summaries: none\nsession id: 01a07b89-aaa7-7651-9b32-551f25e723a0\n--------\nuser\nYou are drafting a Vercy meta-model for one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: lithosphere\nRegistry id: vr.tr.lithosphere\nPlane / domain: PHY / PHY.OBJ\nRegistry definition: (none recorded)\nNames folded into this entry: (none)\n\nA" } } }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q83296", "registryId": "vr.tr.lithosphere", "name": "lithosphere", "version": "0.1.0-research.1", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "PHY.OBJ" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q83296/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.lithosphere", "name": "lithosphere", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to identify a lithospheric domain, assess its thermal and mechanical state, and judge which observations, interpretations and proposed interventions its evidence supports.", "definition": "The lithosphere is the mechanically strong outer shell of a rocky planet, on Earth the crust plus the uppermost mantle that remains elastic or brittle on geological timescales and is decoupled from the weaker asthenosphere at a thermal-rheological lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary.", "scope_statement": "This model owns the lithosphere as a mechanically defined outer planetary shell and its geographically bounded domains, including crust-mantle coupling, basal boundary interpretations, strength, thermal structure and evolution; Earth is the default host unless another body is explicitly identified.", "in_scope": [ "Identification of the host body, regional footprint, depth extent and geological time represented", "Continental, oceanic and transitional lithospheric domains and their internal crust-mantle organization", "Competing estimates of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary and lithospheric thickness", "Thermal structure, mechanical strength, deformation and load-bearing response", "Formation, cooling, modification and removal of lithospheric material", "Evidence limits governing regional interpretation, monitoring and intervention screening" ], "out_of_scope": [ "Individual rock, mineral and soil descriptions beyond their contribution to bulk lithospheric properties", "Complete tectonic plate identities, boundary networks and global plate-motion reconstructions", "Deep mantle circulation and core dynamics beyond their interaction with the lithosphere", "Individual earthquake, fault rupture and volcanic eruption event models", "Resource deposit inventories, extraction plans and project permitting", "Atmosphere, ocean and ecosystem dynamics beyond loads or exchanges imposed on the lithosphere" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Check whether the represented shell includes crust and mechanically associated uppermost mantle; a crust-only volume is not the full lithosphere. [USGS: Inside the Earth](https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/inside.html)", "Check whether its lower boundary concerns mechanical or thermal behavior rather than merely the compositional crust-mantle boundary; the Moho and lithospheric base must be recorded separately.", "Check the timescale of inferred strength relative to underlying mantle: being solid alone does not distinguish lithosphere from asthenosphere. [USGS: Are tectonic plates floating on magma?](https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/are-tectonic-plates-floating-magma)", "Check whether the entity is a shell or material domain, or instead a tectonic plate defined by coherent motion; one plate can include continental and oceanic lithosphere. [USGS: What is a tectonic plate?](https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/tectonic.html)", "Check whether a reported thickness is basal-boundary depth, thermal thickness or effective elastic thickness before treating estimates as equivalent. [The Nature of the Lithosphere-Asthenosphere Boundary](https://marineemlab.ucsd.edu/steve/bio/LAB.pdf)" ], "characteristics": [ { "name": "Host body and represented domain", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Host-body identifier; geographic footprint; coordinate reference system; geological epoch", "why_it_matters": "Prevents observations from different regions, bodies or times being treated as one physical instance." }, { "name": "Lithospheric domain type", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Continental; oceanic; transitional; mixed at stated resolution; unresolved", "why_it_matters": "Conditions which structural and evolutionary assumptions are reasonable." }, { "name": "Lithospheric thickness", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "km, with top surface, basal criterion, depth datum, method and uncertainty", "why_it_matters": "Defines the modeled volume without implying that different boundary criteria produce identical estimates." }, { "name": "Crustal thickness", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "km, with Moho interpretation and uncertainty", "why_it_matters": "Separates crustal contributions from those of the mantle portion of the lithosphere." }, { "name": "Thermal structure", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Temperature in °C versus depth in km; surface heat flow in mW/m²; model assumptions", "why_it_matters": "Constrains thermal weakening, cooling history and interpretation of the basal boundary." }, { "name": "Effective elastic thickness", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "km, with load age, wavelength, inversion method and uncertainty", "why_it_matters": "Supports assessment of flexural behavior while remaining distinct from total lithospheric thickness." }, { "name": "Strength and rheological profile", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Strength in MPa or viscosity in Pa·s versus depth, with temperature, strain rate and constitutive assumptions", "why_it_matters": "Determines whether inferred rigidity or deformation behavior applies to the proposed timescale." }, { "name": "Deformation state", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Extension; shortening; shear; mixed; unresolved, with strain-rate evidence where available", "why_it_matters": "Distinguishes observed deformation from an unsupported assumption of uniform plate rigidity." }, { "name": "Thermal and tectonic ages", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Ma, separately identifying crust formation, mantle stabilization, cooling and later modification", "why_it_matters": "Avoids assigning one age to components and processes with different histories." }, { "name": "Plate and neighboring-domain membership", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Linked plate, adjacent lithospheric domain and underlying mantle interpretations, with time validity", "why_it_matters": "Connects regional state to tectonic context without duplicating neighboring models." } ], "affordances": [ "Delineate a lithospheric domain and compare alternative interpretations of its base.", "Combine seismic, thermal, gravity, electrical and geological constraints while preserving incompatible interpretations.", "Estimate thermal evolution, strength or flexure under explicitly stated scenarios and uncertainty.", "Identify observations that would distinguish competing explanations of thinning, thickening or weakening.", "Track evidence for lithosphere formation, modification, subduction or detachment through time.", "Screen whether regional lithospheric evidence can inform a proposed drilling, geothermal or loading assessment and identify the additional local models required." ] }, "sources": [ { "id": "turcotte-schubert-geodynamics", "title": "Geodynamics - Cambridge University Press (Turcotte, D.L. & Schubert, G.)", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "Mechanical and thermal definition of the lithosphere, plate flexure, cooling of oceanic lithosphere, and typical thickness and elastic-thickness scales." }, { "id": "fowler-solid-earth", "title": "The Solid Earth: An Introduction to Global Geophysics - Cambridge University Press (Fowler, C.M.R.)", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "Seismic versus thermal lithosphere, the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary, oceanic versus continental structure, and plate-tectonic context." }, { "id": "watts-flexure", "title": "Isostasy and Flexure of the Lithosphere - Cambridge University Press (Watts, A.B.)", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "The elastic (flexural) lithosphere as a distinct operational definition, and effective elastic thickness as a measured quantity." }, { "id": "britannica-lithosphere", "title": "Lithosphere - Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.", "url": "https://www.britannica.com/science/lithosphere", "what_it_supports": "Standard geoscience definition of the lithosphere as crust plus rigid uppermost mantle, contrasted with the asthenosphere.", "url_status": "blocked" } ], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "lithospheric-identity-and-extent", "name": "Lithospheric identity and extent", "description": "Establish which shell or regional domain is represented and how its boundaries are interpreted.", "rationale": "An agent cannot compare states until it knows whether records describe the same lithospheric volume and boundary convention.", "layers": [ { "id": "host-and-regional-footprint", "name": "Host and regional footprint", "description": "Identify the body, spatial support and temporal identity of the domain.", "findings": [ { "id": "domain-identity", "name": "Domain identity", "description": "Record a bounded lithospheric domain rather than an unspecified reference to the ground or crust.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which host body, geographic footprint and geological epoch does this lithosphere record represent?", "kind": "definition", "id": "domain-identity-q01" }, { "text": "Does the footprint follow a material domain, a moving plate region or a fixed observation window?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "domain-identity-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "vertical-boundary-conventions", "name": "Vertical boundary conventions", "description": "Separate the upper surface, Moho and alternative basal boundaries.", "findings": [ { "id": "basal-boundary-interpretation", "name": "Basal boundary interpretation", "description": "Preserve method-dependent basal estimates rather than selecting an unexplained universal depth.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which thermal, mechanical or geophysical criterion defines the base, and is it a surface or a transition interval?", "kind": "definition", "id": "basal-boundary-interpretation-q01" }, { "text": "What upper surface, depth datum and uncertainty accompany the thickness estimate?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "basal-boundary-interpretation-q02" }, { "text": "Which observations support each competing basal interpretation?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "basal-boundary-interpretation-q03" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "crust-mantle-architecture", "name": "Crust-mantle architecture", "description": "Describe the lithosphere's constituent domains and their mechanical relationships.", "rationale": "Bulk labels conceal contrasts that control buoyancy, strength and regional response.", "layers": [ { "id": "domain-composition", "name": "Domain composition", "description": "Distinguish oceanic, continental and transitional architecture at the supported resolution.", "findings": [ { "id": "component-partition", "name": "Component partition", "description": "Record crustal and lithospheric mantle contributions without expanding into a complete rock catalogue.", "questions": [ { "text": "What evidence classifies the domain as continental, oceanic, transitional or spatially mixed?", "kind": "definition", "id": "component-partition-q01" }, { "text": "How are crustal thickness, mantle-root geometry and bulk density constrained?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "component-partition-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "internal-coupling", "name": "Internal coupling", "description": "Represent connections and discontinuities that affect deformation across the lithospheric column.", "findings": [ { "id": "coupled-and-weak-zones", "name": "Coupled and weak zones", "description": "Identify where crust and mantle are inferred to transmit stress together or deform differently.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which observations support mechanical coupling or decoupling between crust and mantle at the relevant timescale?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "coupled-and-weak-zones-q01" }, { "text": "Which inherited sutures, weak layers or lateral transitions require separate regional treatment?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "coupled-and-weak-zones-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "thermal-and-mechanical-state", "name": "Thermal and mechanical state", "description": "Capture the conditions that determine strength, deformation and response to loads.", "rationale": "Calling the lithosphere rigid is insufficient for deciding how it behaves under a particular process or timescale.", "layers": [ { "id": "thermal-constraints", "name": "Thermal constraints", "description": "Connect temperature estimates to observations and thermal-model assumptions.", "findings": [ { "id": "geotherm-and-heat-budget", "name": "Geotherm and heat budget", "description": "Record plausible temperature profiles and the assumptions that control them.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which heat-flow measurements or other thermal constraints support the inferred geotherm?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "geotherm-and-heat-budget-q01" }, { "text": "How sensitive is inferred thermal thickness to conductivity, heat production and basal thermal conditions?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "geotherm-and-heat-budget-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "strength-and-load-response", "name": "Strength and load response", "description": "Separate rheological strength, active deformation and effective elastic behavior.", "findings": [ { "id": "timescale-dependent-response", "name": "Timescale-dependent response", "description": "Attach each strength or flexure interpretation to its loading and deformation conditions.", "questions": [ { "text": "What strain rate, temperature profile, fluid assumptions and constitutive law underlie the strength estimate?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "timescale-dependent-response-q01" }, { "text": "Which load age and wavelength constrain effective elastic thickness, and how is it distinguished from basal-boundary depth?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "timescale-dependent-response-q02" }, { "text": "For which proposed loads or deformation scenarios is the inferred response applicable?", "kind": "action", "id": "timescale-dependent-response-q03" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "lithospheric-evolution-and-exchange", "name": "Lithospheric evolution and exchange", "description": "Represent how a domain formed, changed and exchanged material with its surroundings.", "rationale": "Present thickness and strength require a history that separates component ages from later thermal and tectonic changes.", "layers": [ { "id": "formation-and-modification", "name": "Formation and modification", "description": "Distinguish initial assembly and cooling from subsequent reworking.", "findings": [ { "id": "component-histories", "name": "Component histories", "description": "Maintain separate histories for crust, mantle lithosphere and thermal state.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which dates constrain crust formation, mantle stabilization and subsequent thermal modification separately?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "component-histories-q01" }, { "text": "What evidence distinguishes cooling-related change from stretching, shortening or magmatic modification?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "component-histories-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "material-transfer-and-loss", "name": "Material transfer and loss", "description": "Track inferred addition, displacement and removal without assuming a single evolution mechanism.", "findings": [ { "id": "domain-continuity-through-change", "name": "Domain continuity through change", "description": "Record how subduction, detachment or replacement affects the identity of the represented domain.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which observations support material addition, subduction, detachment or replacement, and which alternative explanations remain?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "domain-continuity-through-change-q01" }, { "text": "When material leaves the surface shell, does this record continue to track it or hand it to a linked slab or mantle-domain model?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "domain-continuity-through-change-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "geophysical-evidence-and-use", "name": "Geophysical evidence and use", "description": "Connect lithospheric interpretations to observational resolution and defensible decisions.", "rationale": "Most deep properties are inferred, so agents must preserve non-uniqueness and avoid applying regional interpretations at unsupported local scales.", "layers": [ { "id": "joint-interpretation", "name": "Joint interpretation", "description": "Evaluate how independent observations constrain or contradict the proposed structure.", "findings": [ { "id": "resolution-and-nonuniqueness", "name": "Resolution and non-uniqueness", "description": "Distinguish measured signals from inferred temperature, composition, melt or strength.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which seismic, gravity, electrical, thermal or sample observations were actually used, and with what spatial and depth resolution?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "resolution-and-nonuniqueness-q01" }, { "text": "Which inferred anomalies admit competing thermal, compositional, fluid or melt explanations?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "resolution-and-nonuniqueness-q02" }, { "text": "Do disagreements between thickness estimates reflect different boundary definitions or incompatible evidence?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "resolution-and-nonuniqueness-q03" } ] } ] }, { "id": "decision-and-observation-support", "name": "Decision and observation support", "description": "Identify supported uses and the additional evidence needed for a specific action.", "findings": [ { "id": "permitted-inferences", "name": "Permitted inferences", "description": "Relate model resolution and uncertainty to observation planning, scenario analysis and project screening.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which additional survey would best distinguish the remaining basal-boundary or strength interpretations?", "kind": "action", "id": "permitted-inferences-q01" }, { "text": "Can the domain model support the proposed drilling, geothermal or loading assessment at its required depth, scale and timescale?", "kind": "action", "id": "permitted-inferences-q02" }, { "text": "Which local fault, groundwater, rock-mechanics or hazard models must be consulted before turning regional interpretation into an intervention decision?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "permitted-inferences-q03" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "evidence-and-external-alignment", "name": "Evidence and external alignment", "description": "What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.", "rationale": "A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.", "layers": [ { "id": "reported-evidence", "name": "Reported evidence", "description": "Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.", "findings": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds", "name": "Kinds and varieties", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Oceanic lithosphere", "Continental lithosphere", "Cratonic lithosphere (mantle keel)", "Thermal lithosphere", "Mechanical or rheological lithosphere", "Elastic or flexural lithosphere", "Seismic lithosphere (high-velocity lid)", "Chemical or compositional lithosphere" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds-q01", "text": "Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of lithosphere this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-identifiers", "name": "Identifiers and schemes", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "scheme": "Wikidata", "value_or_pattern": "item labelled lithosphere (planetary layer; commonly Q83296)", "note": "Q-id not re-checked in this pass; treat the label, not the number, as the lookup key." }, { "scheme": "NASA GCMD / KMS Earth Science Keywords", "value_or_pattern": "Earth Science > Solid Earth > … > Lithosphere", "note": "Keyword used in Earth-observation metadata, not a unique instance code." }, { "scheme": "SWEET ontology", "value_or_pattern": "realm class Lithosphere", "note": "Semantic web class for the Earth-system sphere, not a specimen identifier." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-identifiers-q01", "text": "Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of lithosphere this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation", "name": "Standards and regulation", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "International Lithosphere Program - joint IUGG and IUGS research programme on lithosphere structure and dynamics, not a product code.", "INSPIRE Data Specification on Geology - European Commission (JRC), for encoding geologic units and structures in European spatial data infrastructure.", "GeoSciML - Commission for the Management and Application of Geoscience Information (CGI-IUGS) with OGC, for exchanging geologic-unit and Earth-material descriptions.", "Preliminary Reference Earth Model (PREM) - de facto radial seismic reference of Dziewonski & Anderson (Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, Elsevier), used to place lithospheric lid velocities, not a legal standard." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation-q01", "text": "Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of lithosphere this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-real-world-use", "name": "Real-world use", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Plate-boundary and intraplate earthquake hazard models treat the lithosphere as the brittle load-bearing layer in which faults lock and fail.", "Basin modelling for petroleum and geothermal systems uses lithospheric stretching, cooling, and heat flow to reconstruct burial temperature and maturation.", "Diamond and craton exploration uses thick, depleted continental lithospheric mantle as the host environment for diamond-stable keels.", "Satellite gravity, seamount loading, and foreland-basin stratigraphy are inverted for effective elastic thickness of the lithosphere.", "Planetary geology compares lithospheric thickness and flexure on the Moon, Mars, and Venus with Earth's oceanic and continental end-members." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-real-world-use-q01", "text": "Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of lithosphere this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-measurements", "name": "Typical measurements", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "quantity": "Thermal or seismic thickness (oceanic)", "typical_range": "near 0 at a mid-ocean ridge, about 40-100 at old ocean floor", "unit": "km" }, { "quantity": "Thermal or seismic thickness (continental, including cratons)", "typical_range": "about 80-250 typical continents; cratonic keels often 150-350", "unit": "km" }, { "quantity": "Effective elastic thickness Te", "typical_range": "oceans about 2-40; continents about 5-110, higher under some cratons", "unit": "km" }, { "quantity": "Temperature at the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary", "typical_range": "about 1250-1350", "unit": "°C" }, { "quantity": "Surface heat flow", "typical_range": "continents about 40-90 (cratons often 30-50); oceans strongly age-dependent, roughly 50-300+", "unit": "mW/m²" }, { "quantity": "Lithospheric-mantle density", "typical_range": "about 3300-3400", "unit": "kg/m³" } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-measurements-q01", "text": "Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of lithosphere this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards", "name": "Failure modes and hazards", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Brittle failure of the upper lithosphere produces tectonic earthquakes, including great subduction-interface events in oceanic lithosphere.", "Oceanic lithosphere is recycled at trenches; old, dense slabs can steepen, tear, or break off, reorganising stress and volcanism.", "Continental lithosphere can thin to rupture in rifts, or thicken and then drip or delaminate, causing rapid uplift, magmatism, and basin reorganisation.", "Thermal erosion by mantle plumes or small-scale convection can thin the lithosphere and focus volcanism and dynamic topography.", "Flexural failure under ice sheets, seamounts, or orogenic loads warps the surface and can reactivate faults." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01", "text": "Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of lithosphere this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-regional-variation", "name": "Regional variation", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Seismologists often speak of a high-velocity lid where tectonophysicists speak of mechanical lithosphere; the two depths need not coincide.", "Cratonic Africa, Canada, and Western Australia are described with thick, cold keels; Phanerozoic western Europe and the Basin and Range are treated as thin, warm lithosphere.", "Russian and some European literature historically separated thermal, mechanical, and chemical lithosphere more explicitly than many English textbooks.", "Oceanic plates of the Pacific are typically older and thicker at subduction than young back-arc or Red Sea lithosphere, which is still thermally immature." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-regional-variation-q01", "text": "Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of lithosphere this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-neighbours", "name": "Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "name": "Crust", "difference": "The crust is a compositional layer bounded by the Moho; the lithosphere is a mechanical layer that includes crust plus rigid mantle and is bounded by the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary." }, { "name": "Asthenosphere", "difference": "The asthenosphere is the weaker, convecting or low-viscosity mantle beneath the lithosphere, often a seismic low-velocity zone; the lithosphere is the strong lid above it." }, { "name": "Tectosphere", "difference": "Jordan's tectosphere is the long-lived, chemically depleted continental root; it may be thicker and defined compositionally, whereas lithosphere is primarily a mechanical or thermal definition." }, { "name": "Tectonic plate", "difference": "A plate is a kinematic fragment of lithosphere bounded by plate margins; lithosphere is the material layer, which may include several plates or internally deforming continental regions." }, { "name": "Pedosphere", "difference": "The pedosphere is the soil layer in Earth-system sphere lists; it occupies only the uppermost metres of continental crust, not the rigid plate-scale shell." }, { "name": "Mantle mesosphere (older usage)", "difference": "In some older mantle literature the mesosphere is the strong mantle below the asthenosphere; it is not the lithosphere and is unrelated to the atmospheric mesosphere." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-neighbours-q01", "text": "Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of lithosphere this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Does the registry intend lithosphere to cover other rocky bodies, or should this entry remain Earth-specific?", "Which basal-boundary conventions should be accepted, and how should incompatible thermal, mechanical and seismic estimates coexist?", "What evidence and resolution are sufficient to distinguish lithospheric thinning from changes in composition, hydration or temperature?", "When should subducted or detached material cease to be part of a lithosphere instance and become a linked slab or mantle-domain instance?", "Does an existing Vercy world model already own this concept, requiring this registry entry to link to that model?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 11, "findings": 18, "questions": 32 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "device, machine or tool", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a lithosphere, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Enable an AI agent to identify a lithospheric domain, assess its thermal and mechanical state, and judge which observations, interpretations and proposed interventions its evidence supports.", "characteristics": { "substance": "material", "origin": "manufactured", "agency": "inert", "mobility": "varies" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: oceanic crust, continental crust.", "2 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 99 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a lithosphere, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "matter you can touch", "physicalCharacter": [ "Mobility varies between examples.", "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Recognised by form, by the arrangement of its controls, and by markings - a plate, a model number, a certification mark. Form alone rarely separates two models that do very different things." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "oceanic crust", "continental crust" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 99 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 2 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one lithosphere from another, and a lithosphere from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a lithosphere, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a lithosphere, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a lithosphere is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a lithosphere, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a lithosphere, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a lithosphere is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a lithosphere sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a lithosphere, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a lithosphere, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a lithosphere is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a lithosphere from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a lithosphere, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a lithosphere, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a lithosphere is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "form-and-composition", "name": "Form, composition and condition", "description": "What a lithosphere is made of, what shape and size it takes, and what state it is in.", "rationale": "A physical thing can be measured, and a model that cannot record its measurements cannot support any decision that depends on them.", "layers": [ { "id": "form-and-dimensions", "name": "Form and dimensions", "description": "Shape, size, mass and the ranges these take across examples.", "findings": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions", "name": "Measurable dimensions and their units", "description": "The quantities worth recording and the units they are recorded in.", "questions": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the dimensions of a lithosphere, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the dimensions of a lithosphere, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the dimensions of a lithosphere is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "material-and-composition", "name": "Material and composition", "description": "Materials, parts and how they are put together.", "findings": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials", "name": "Parts and materials", "description": "What a lithosphere is built from and which parts are replaceable.", "questions": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the composition of a lithosphere, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the composition of a lithosphere, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the composition of a lithosphere is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-integrity", "name": "Condition and integrity", "description": "Wear, damage, health and the difference between working and broken.", "findings": [ { "id": "condition-assessment", "name": "Condition, damage and health", "description": "How the condition of a lithosphere is judged and by whom.", "questions": [ { "id": "condition-assessment-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the condition of a lithosphere, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the condition of a lithosphere, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the condition of a lithosphere is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "place-and-movement", "name": "Place and movement", "description": "Where a lithosphere is, how it got there and where it may go (varies).", "rationale": "A thing that can move needs its position recorded with a time, or every later claim about it is about a place it has left.", "layers": [ { "id": "location-and-placement", "name": "Location and placement", "description": "Position, containment and the reference frame the position is given in.", "findings": [ { "id": "position-and-frame", "name": "Position, container and reference frame", "description": "Where a lithosphere is, and what that position is measured against.", "questions": [ { "id": "position-and-frame-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the location of a lithosphere, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the location of a lithosphere, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the location of a lithosphere is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "movement-and-transfer", "name": "Movement and transfer", "description": "How a lithosphere is carried, installed or relocated.", "findings": [ { "id": "movement-events", "name": "Movement events and constraints", "description": "What counts as a movement, what records it and what limits it.", "questions": [ { "id": "movement-events-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the movement of a lithosphere, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the movement of a lithosphere, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the movement of a lithosphere is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a lithosphere passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a lithosphere between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a lithosphere, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a lithosphere, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a lithosphere is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a lithosphere, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a lithosphere is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a lithosphere, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a lithosphere, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a lithosphere is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "function-and-principle", "name": "Function and operating principle", "description": "What lithosphere is for and how it achieves it.", "rationale": "Two devices with the same name can work on different principles, and the principle is what predicts failure and constrains use.", "layers": [ { "id": "intended-function", "name": "Intended function", "description": "The job it does, and the jobs it is used for anyway.", "findings": [ { "id": "function-record", "name": "Function, principle and variants", "description": "What it does, how, and which variants do it differently.", "questions": [ { "id": "function-record-q01", "text": "What function does lithosphere perform, on what operating principle, and which variants differ in that principle?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "function-record-q02", "text": "What use falls outside the intended function but happens in practice?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "capacity-and-rating", "name": "Capacity and rating", "description": "The numbers that say what it can do and where it stops.", "findings": [ { "id": "ratings", "name": "Ratings and their conditions", "description": "Rated capacity, power, throughput and the conditions each assumes.", "questions": [ { "id": "ratings-q01", "text": "What ratings characterise lithosphere, in what units, and under what stated conditions?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "ratings-q02", "text": "What happens beyond the rating - degradation, refusal, damage - and how is that detected?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "operation-and-state", "name": "Operation, controls and state", "description": "How lithosphere is operated and what state it is in right now.", "rationale": "An agent acting on a device needs its current state and the controls that change it, not just its specification.", "layers": [ { "id": "controls-and-modes", "name": "Controls and modes", "description": "What can be set, what that changes, and what is interlocked.", "findings": [ { "id": "control-surface", "name": "Control surface and interlocks", "description": "The settings available and the conditions that block them.", "questions": [ { "id": "control-surface-q01", "text": "What controls and modes does lithosphere have, and what does each change?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "control-surface-q02", "text": "Which actions are interlocked or forbidden in which state, and what must be true before acting?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-maintenance", "name": "Condition and maintenance", "description": "Wear, service intervals, consumables and the line between working and broken.", "findings": [ { "id": "service-record", "name": "Condition, service and consumables", "description": "What is consumed, what is serviced, and how condition is judged.", "questions": [ { "id": "service-record-q01", "text": "What consumables and service does lithosphere need, at what interval, and on whose authority?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "service-record-q02", "text": "What evidence separates a unit that is working from one that is out of service?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "kind-model-unit", "name": "Kind, model and unit", "description": "Whether a claim about lithosphere is about the kind, a product line, or one physical unit.", "rationale": "This is the boundary most often got wrong for made things, and getting it wrong mixes a catalogue entry with the machine in the yard.", "layers": [ { "id": "level-of-reference", "name": "Level of reference", "description": "The three levels and what belongs at each.", "findings": [ { "id": "level-rules", "name": "What belongs to kind, model and unit", "description": "Which properties are shared by all of them and which are not.", "questions": [ { "id": "level-rules-q01", "text": "Which facts about lithosphere hold for every one of them, which for a model, and which only for one unit?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "level-rules-q02", "text": "What identifies an individual unit, and what should an agent do when it has only the kind?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "standards-and-conformity", "name": "Standards and conformity", "description": "The standards a working example must meet and who attests it.", "findings": [ { "id": "conformity", "name": "Standards, marks and attestation", "description": "Which standard applies, who certifies, and what the mark means.", "questions": [ { "id": "conformity-q01", "text": "Which standards govern lithosphere, issued by whom, and what does conformity actually assert?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "id": "conformity-q02", "text": "What may an agent conclude from a certification mark, and what may it not?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a lithosphere came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a lithosphere and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a lithosphere, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a lithosphere, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a lithosphere is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a lithosphere is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a lithosphere, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a lithosphere, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a lithosphere is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 8, "layers": 17, "findings": 19, "questions": 51 } } } }