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plate-tectonic

  • a word derived from plate tectonics.
    plate tectonics
    noun
    a theory of global tectonics in which the lithosphere is divided into a number of crustal plates, each of which moves on the plastic asthenosphere more or less independently to collide with, slide under, or move past adjacent plates.

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"We analyzed a compilation of thermal history models in function of plate-tectonic models for the Tethys Ocean evolution, as well as deep-time precipitation and mantle-convection models."

From Science Daily May 18, 2026

The distinctive east–west shear zones that transected the region were, they said, sutures left by the most ancient plate-tectonic collisions on our planet, during the early Proterozoic eon, which began around 2.5 billion years ago.

From Nature Feb. 5, 2018

A terrane is a distinctive block of crust that is now part of a continent, but is thought to have come from elsewhere, and was added on by plate-tectonic processes.

From Textbooks Jan. 1, 2015

In the ridge-push/slab-pull model, which is the one that has been adopted by most geologists working on plate-tectonic problems, the lithosphere is the upper surface of the convection cells, as is illustrated in Figure 10.29.

From Textbooks Jan. 1, 2015

She thinks plate-tectonic theory, though correct in many respects, has had considerable bosh swept under it.

From Time Magazine Archive

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