crustal plate

American  

noun

Geology.

1. a large block or tabular section of the lithosphere that reacts to tectonic forces as a unit and moves as such.

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Example Sentences

In some cases the destruction from strike-slip earthquakes is more widespread than from larger quakes that occur in so-called subduction zones, where one large crustal plate is sliding beneath another.

From New York Times • Feb. 6, 2023

We see part of a very active region in California where one crustal plate is sliding sideways with respect to the other.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

Alaska also has some of the most complex geology in North America, with the Pacific crustal plate slamming into and diving under the continent.

From Scientific American • Nov. 5, 2013