Why do scientists think that lithosphere has to be destroyed somewhere on or in the earth? Lithosphere is created at divergent boundaries and the earth is not getting any larger. The moon is moving away from the earth and this would not happen if the earth had more lithosphere to increase its mass. The earth is getting smaller as the new oceanic crust cools and contracts. There is not enough lithosphere on the earth to account for what has been produced in the last 200 million years.