continental plate

American  

[kahn-tin-en-tuhl playt] / ˌkɑn tɪnˈɛn təl ˌpleɪt /

noun

1. Geology. the type of tectonic plate that is part of the lithosphere that underlies the continents, as opposed to being oceanic.

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Example Sentences

Subduction is the process of an oceanic tectonic plate running into a continental plate and sliding beneath it.

From Seattle Times • May 18, 2024

Pakistan and the region, which sit along an active continental plate boundary, are often hit by earthquakes.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 11, 2024

When the mine was first discovered, most geologists thought that searching for diamonds along continental plate boundaries—which are often uplifted by ancient mountain belts and buried beneath soil and sand—was futile.

From Scientific American • Sep. 19, 2023

There are two styles of thrust fault deformation: thin-skinned faults that occur in superficial rocks lying on top of the continental plate and thick-skinned faults that reach deeper into the crust.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017

As the continents bumped and nudged, sometimes one continental plate would slide over another, pushing ocean floor before it, reworking the landscape for 150 miles or more inland.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson