sphero-, spher-, -sphere- +

1. The layers in an organization's hierarchy that sit above the rank and file.
2. Slang for the rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank-and-file.

Decisions that result from the adminisphere are often inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve.

1. In aeronautics, the area outside the atmosphere of the earth where manned flight is possible.
2. The entire atmosphere surrounding the earth.

That part of the biosphere in which heterotrophic organisms occur but into which organic food material must be transported as primary production does not take place.

1. The part of the biosphere which has been affected by such human activities as agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, urbanization, and industrialization.
2. The parts of the biosphere of the great geological activities that are under the influence of mankind.

A lens whose surfaces have a profile that is neither a portion of a sphere nor of a circular cylinder.

In photography, a lens assembly that includes an aspheric element is often called an aspherical lens.

The asphere's more complex surface profile can reduce or eliminate spherical aberration and also reduce other optical aberrations compared to a simple lens because a single aspheric lens can often replace a much more complex multi-lens system.

Aspheric lenses are also sometimes used for eyeglasses which are typically designed to give a thinner lens, and also distort the viewer's eyes less as seen by other people, producing better aesthetic appearance.

Aspheric eyeglass lenses typically do not provide better vision than standard "best form" lenses, but rather allow a thinner, flatter lens to be made without compromising the optical performance.

1. With reference to a reflecting surface or lens, deviating slightly from a perfectly spherical shape and relatively free from aberrations.
2. Varying slightly from a perfectly spherical shape.

1. The zone or layer of the earth's upper mantle that lies below the lithosphere and consists of several hundred kilometers of deformable rock, which is capable of plastic deformation, and in which magmas may be generated and the velocity of seismic waves reduced.
2. A portion of the upper mantle just below the lithosphere which is involved in plate movements and isostatic adjustments.

In spite of its heat, pressures keep it plastic, and it has a relatively low density.

Seismic waves pass relatively slowly through the asthenosphere, compared to the overlying lithospheric mantle; therefore, it has been called the low-velocity zone.

This was the observation that originally alerted seismologists to its presence and gave some information about its physical properties, as the speed of seismic waves decreases with decreasing rigidity.

3. The upper part of the earth's mantle, extending from a depth of about 75 km (46.5 mi) to about 200 km (124 mi).

The asthenosphere lies beneath the lithosphere and consists of partially molten rock. Seismic waves passing through this layer are significantly slowed.

Isostatic adjustments (the depression or uplift of continents by buoyancy) take place in the asthenosphere, and the magma is believed to be generated there.

Lying above the lithosphere is

• The liquid hydrosphere, comprising 71% of the earth's surface.
• The still lighter gaseous atmosphere, both of which were ultimately derived from the accretion of comets.

4. Etymology: asthenosphere comes from Greek asthenēs, "weak"; from Greek astheneia, "weakness"; from a-, "without" + sthenos, "strength" + -o-, "a connective vowel" + -sphere, "around, zone".

1. A reference to the zone beneath the earth's surface that lies beneath the lithosphere and consists of several hundred kilometers of weak material that readily yields to persistent stresses: "According o the theory of plate tectonics, the Earth's lithosphere is a rigid outer layer that moves slowly over the weaker asthenospheric zone."
2. Etymology: from Greek astheneia, "weakness"; which consists of a-, "without" + sthenos, "strength" + -spheric, "being around" or "a zone".

The mantle (layer of the earth between the crust and the core) is believed to make up eighty-four percent of the earth by volume and sixty-seven percent by mass.

It is about 1,802 miles, or 2,900 kilometers, thick and consists of silica, plus iron-rich, magnesium-rich, and other metal-rich minerals.

The hot plastic asthenosphere, part upper mantle and lower crust, separates the more brittle crust-mantle lithosphere above from the mesosphere below.

Thought to be responsible for the movement of the lithospheric plates (crustal plates) that slowly "carry" the continents around the planet, the asthenosphere is about 186 miles, or 300 kilometers, thick.

The more solid mesosphere, located below the asthenosphere, includes part of the upper and all of the lower mantle.

Scientists theorize that convection in the upper mantle-lower crust, or asthenosphere, slowly "carries" the lithospheric plates around the planet; while another theory states that convection at a depth of about 375 to 435 miles, or 603 to 700 kilometers, in the part of the mantle (mesosphere) is transferred to the asthenosphere and moves the plates.

Sometimes referred to as the "weak sphere", the asthenosphere is characterized by being weaker and more elastic than the surrounding mantle.

Its lack of shear strength results from the high temperature of the rocks approaching the melting point. Since seismic waves travel more slowly in the asthenosphere; it is also referred to as the "low velocity zone".

The asthenosphere's elastic behavior and low viscosity allow the overlying plates to move laterally and also allow the overlying crust and mantle to move vertically in response to gravity to achieve "isostatic equilibrium" or the theoretical balance in buoyancy of all parts of the earth's crust, as though they were floating on a denser layer beneath them.

1. The envelope of gases surrounding the earth and held to it by the force of gravity. 2. The gas bound gravitationally to a planet or the pressure of the air on the earth at mean sea level; approximately 14.7 pounds per square inch.
3. The outer layers of a star.
4. A supposed outer envelope of effective influence surrounding various bodies.
5. Prevailing psychological climate; pervading tone or mood; characteristic mental or moral environment; fascinating or beguiling associations or effects.
6. Applied to the background sounds that evoke a particular mood, impression, setting, etc., in a broadcast program, etc.
7. The air in any particular place; especially, as affected in its condition by heat, cold, purifying or contaminating influences, etc.; such as, a very smoky atmosphere.
8. The predominant tone or mood of a work of art or the pervading quality, effect, or mood; especially, as associated with a particular place: "He lived in a dark old house with a depressing atmosphere."
9. A distinctively exotic or romantic quality or effect: "We went to an Italian restaurant with lots of atmosphere."

The mixture of gases surrounding celestial bodies with sufficient gravity to maintain them.

Although some details about the atmospheres of other planets and satellites are known, only the earth's atmosphere has been well studied, the science of which is called "meteorology".

1. Relating, referring to, or taking place in the earth's atmosphere.
2. Dependent on, caused by, or resulting from the atmosphere.
3. Giving or creating an atmosphere; such as, atmospheric music.

A term for early steam engine designs; so called because the pressure of the steam was the same as, or near, the pressure of the surrounding atmosphere.

1. The absorption of radiation by the gases and moisture in the atmosphere.
2. The reduction in energy of microwaves by gases and moisture in the atmosphere.

1. The propagation of sound through the atmosphere, which affects sound in predictable ways according to atmospheric conditions; such as, temperature and precipitation.
2. The science of sound waves in the open air.