craton

American  

[krey-ton] / ˈkreɪ tɒn /

noun

Geology.

1. a relatively rigid and immobile region of continental portions of the earth's crust.

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craton British  

/ krəˈtɒnɪk, ˈkreɪtən /

noun

1. geology a stable part of the earth's continental crust or lithosphere that has not been deformed significantly for many millions, even hundreds of millions, of years See shield

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craton Scientific  

/ krā′tŏn′ /

1. A large portion of a continental plate that has been relatively undisturbed since the Precambrian era and includes both shield and platform layers.

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Other Word Forms

• cratonic adjective

Etymology

Origin of craton

1940–45; < German Kraton, based on Greek krátos power; -cracy, -on ²

Example Sentences

That evidence points to the São Francisco craton, one of the oldest and most stable regions of South America's continental crust.

From Science Daily • Mar. 1, 2026

“At the very edge of the craton we get these carbonatite lavas,” he says.

From Science Magazine • Jun. 23, 2022

A craton has two main parts: the shield, which is crystalline basement rock near the surface, and the platform made of sedimentary rocks covering the shield.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017

There is a backstop—the craton, that ancient unbudgeable mass at the center of the continent—and, sooner or later, North America will rebound like a spring.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 20, 2015

Near faster ice streams, like Byrd Glacier, we found a rich assortment of igneous and metamorphic rocks, probably eroded from the upstream craton, even though the local nunatak geology exposes only Beacon and Ferrar.

From New York Times • Jan. 7, 2011