Eurasian Plate

American  

[yoo-rey-zhuhn pleyt, -shuhn, yuh-] / yʊˈreɪ ʒən ˈpleɪt, -ʃən, yə- /

noun

Geology.

1. a major tectonic division of the earth's crust, comprising the continents of Europe and Asia as well as several suboceanic basins (the West European, Norwegian, Lofoten, Aleutian, and South China Basins), separated from the North American Plate by the subsea Reykjanes Ridge, bounded on the south by the African and Indo-Australian Plates, and on the east by the Philippine and Pacific Plates.

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Etymology

Origin of Eurasian Plate

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

The thin oceanic slabs readily plunged below the Eurasian Plate while the thick continental crust plowed headlong into Eurasia like a battering ram.

From Science Magazine • Jan. 9, 2024

Part of the Indian Plate appears to be “delaminating” as it slides under the Eurasian Plate, with the dense bottom part peeling away from the top.

From Science Magazine • Jan. 9, 2024

But in eastern Indonesia, where Sulawesi is located, the Indo–Australian Plate is topped by continental crust that does not subduct —so it is simply ramming headlong into the crust of the Eurasian Plate, fracturing it.

From Scientific American • Oct. 3, 2018

The North American Plate, for example, rotates counter-clockwise; the Eurasian Plate rotates clockwise.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

Iceland is part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which separates the Eurasian Plate and the North American Plate.

From Scientific American • Nov. 15, 2012