North American Plate

American  

[nawrth uh-mer-i-kuhn pleyt] / ˈnɔrθ əˈmɛr ɪ kən ˈpleɪt /

noun

Geology, Oceanography.

1. a major tectonic division of the earth's crust, comprising Greenland and the continent of North America and the suboceanic Labrador and North American Basins, and bounded on the east by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, on the south by the Caribbean and South American Plates, and on the west by the San Andreas Fault and the Aleutian Trench.

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Etymology

Origin of North American Plate

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

In Washington’s case, the Juan de Fuca Plate is sliding underneath the North American Plate, resulting in the Cascades and related volcanoes.

From Seattle Times • May 18, 2024

And he’s astute in explaining the science: the crust of the Pacific Plate pushing under the North American Plate.

From New York Times • Mar. 24, 2020

Oceanic crust tends to be heavier than continental crust, so for the most part the Juan de Fuca Plate is diving beneath the North American Plate in a process called subduction.

From Washington Times • Jul. 19, 2015

Plates move as rigid bodies, so it may seem surprising that the North American Plate can be moving at different rates in different places.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

At the fault, about 60 miles east of the Honshu coast, 190 miles of seafloor along the edge of the North American Plate leaped upward by about 30 feet.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland