Concepts

Mohorovicic Discontinuity

MOH-hoh (short form); moh-hoh-ROH-vih-chich (full)

Also Known As The Moho

Citation Formats

General Reference

Earth and Environment Atlas. "Mohorovicic Discontinuity." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://earth.interactiveatlas.org/concepts/mohorovicic-discontinuity.

APA Style

Earth and Environment Atlas. (n.d.). Mohorovicic Discontinuity. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://earth.interactiveatlas.org/concepts/mohorovicic-discontinuity

BibTeX

@misc{earthandenvironmentatlas-mohorovicic-discontinuity,
  author = {Earth and Environment Atlas},
  title = {Mohorovicic Discontinuity},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://earth.interactiveatlas.org/concepts/mohorovicic-discontinuity},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The boundary separating the Earth's crust from its mantle, discovered by Andrija Mohorovicic from the way seismic waves from a 1909 earthquake reflected and refracted as they crossed it. Its depth varies from about 5 kilometers under the ocean floor to several tens of kilometers under mountain ranges.

Facts

Origin Year

1909 1

Cross-Tradition Connections