litho-, lith-, -lith, -lithic, -lite, -liths, -lites

The existence and growth of an animal, plant, or insect in stony or rocky habitats: The article on lithophily gave June some information about reptiles, like the green snakes, timber rattlesnakes, and prairie lizards, that dwelled on dry and warm rocky cliffs.

A device for detecting calculi by reflection of emitted sound, a forerunner of current ultrasonic diagnostic devices.

A fossil leaf or a leaf impression in stone.

A plant that grows on rock and derives its nourishment chiefly from the atmosphere or it grows in rocky ground.

A descriptive term for plants that grow on rocks or stones; especially, an alga attached to a rock or stone.

An instrument used for visual examination of calculi in the urinary bladder.

Strong trimmers in the lithospheric part of the earth.

A plant succession originating on rock surfaces.

A group of azonal soils without pronounced horisons, consisting of recently weathered rock fragments that develop on steep slopes, and characterized by shallow depths to bedrock.

Soils which develop at high altitudes on resistant parent materials which withstand weather and result in a humus-rich, shallow, stony soil.

The brittle outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and the upper mantle.

It is made up of six major and several minor tectonic plates that move around on the softer asthenosphere or the relatively plastic layer of the upper mantle of the earth on which the tectonic plates of the lithosphere move.

It is about 55 km (34 mi) thick beneath the oceans and up to about 200 km (124 mi) thick beneath the continents and is composed of rigid plates.

The high velocity with which seismic waves propagate through the lithosphere suggests that it is completely solid.

The movement of the plates of the lithosphere results in convergence, or collisions, that can form mountain belts and subduction zones, and divergence of the plates and the creation of new crust as material wells up from below separating plates. The lithosphere and asthenosphere are distinguished from the crust, mantle and core of the earth on the basis of their mechanical behavior and not their composition.

1. A reference to stratigraphy which is based on the physical and petrographic properties of rocks.
2. Relating to a written interpretation of the physical characteristics of sedimentary rocks.

1. Stratigraphy based on the physical and petrographic properties or categorization of rock strata based on their lithology (color, texture, and composition).
2. A written interpretation of the physical characteristics of sedimentary rocks.
3. The study and correlation of strata to elucidate earth history on the basis of their lithology, or mineral content, grain size, texture, and color of rocks.

A surgical instrument specifically designed to perform lithotomies or incisions into a duct or bodily organs for the purpose of removing stones.

A surgeon or other physician who removes stones, particularly from the bladder.