The lithosphere is the outermost shell of a rocky planet defined on the basis of the mechanical properties. On Earth, it comprises the crust and the portion of the upper mantle that behaves elastically on time scales of thousands of years or greater. The outermost shell of a rocky planet defined on the basis of the chemistry and mineralogy is a crust.
The continental crust is the layer of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks which forms the continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to their shores, known as continental shelves. This layer is sometimes called sial because there is more felsic, or granitic, bulk composition, which lies in contrast to the oceanic crust, called sima because of the mafic or basaltic rock
Oceanic crust is the part of Earth's lithosphere that surfaces in the ocean basins. Oceanic crust is primarily composed of mafic rocks, or sima, which is rich in iron and magnesium. It is thinner than continental crust.