Abstract
A Model in which the plate (lithosphere) is thickening with time away from oceanic ridges is presented here and details of numerical experiments are reported. In this model, the plate develops on the balance of the heat budget between input heat flow from asthenosphere, release of solidification heat at the plate-asthenosphere boundary, and cooling from the surface. It is demonstrated that the thickening plate model is fully consistent with the various geophysical observations such as gravity anomalies, surface heat flow, water depth in ocean basins and physical properties of the asthenosphere and the lithosphere.
