Pacific Plate

American  

[puh-sif-ik pleyt] / pəˈsɪf ɪk ˈpleɪt /

noun

Geology.

1. one of the major tectonic divisions of the earth's crust, comprising four seafloor basins: separated from the Nazca, Cocos, North American, and South American Plates by the East Pacific Rise and San Andreas Fault and bounded in the western Pacific Ocean by a series of major ocean deeps, including the Kuril, Japan, Mariana, Kermadec, and Tonga Trenches.

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Etymology

Origin of Pacific Plate

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

South of this junction, the Pacific plate moves roughly northwest alongside the North American plate, creating the San Andreas fault.

From Science Daily

South of the triple junction, the Pacific plate is pulling a mass of rock known as the Pioneer fragment beneath the North American plate as it moves northwards.

From Science Daily

There, the Pacific Plate slides beneath the North American Plate in what’s known as a subduction fault.

From Literature

It sounds harmless enough, and even more so when you realize that the Pacific Plate creeps westward at only about three and a half inches per year.

From Literature

Over time, the movement of the Pacific Plate pulls the North American Plate downward, like the bucket of a catapult that is being readied to fire.

From Literature