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Tectonics

Abyssal plain
Flat area on the deep ocean floor
Accretionary wedge
The sediments accreted onto the non-subducting tectonic plate at a convergent plate boundary
African plate
A major tectonic plate underlying Africa west of the East African Rift
Antarctic plate
A tectonic plate containing the continent of Antarctica and extending outward under the surrounding oceans
Arabian plate
A minor tectonic plate consisting mostly of the Arabian Peninsula, extending northward to Mesopotamia and the Levant
Asthenosphere
The highly viscous, mechanically weak and ductile region of Earth's mantle
Back-arc basin
Submarine features associated with island arcs and subduction zones
Caribbean plate
A mostly oceanic tectonic plate including part of Central America and the Caribbean Sea
Cocos plate
Young oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Central America
Continent
Very large landmass identified by convention
Continental crust
Layer of rock that forms the continents and continental shelves
Continental drift
The movement of the Earth's continents relative to each other
Continental fragment
Part of a continent broken from its main mass
Continental margin
Zone of the ocean floor that separates the thin oceanic crust from thick continental crust
Continental rise
An underwater feature connecting the continental slope and the abyssal plain
Continental shelf
A portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water known as a shelf sea
Convergent boundary
Region of active deformation between colliding tectonic plates
Craton
Old and stable part of the continental lithosphere
Crust (geology)
The outermost solid shell of a rocky planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite
Décollement
Geological feature
Divergent boundary
Linear feature that exists between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other
Eurasian plate
A tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia
Farallon plate
An ancient oceanic plate that has mostly subducted under the west coast of the North American Plate
Forearc
The region between an oceanic trench and the associated volcanic arc
Foreland basin
A structural basin that develops adjacent and parallel to a mountain belt
Geologic province
A spatial entity with common geologic attributes
Indo-Australian plate
A major tectonic plate formed by the fusion of the Indian and Australian plates
Juan de Fuca plate
A small tectonic plate in the eastern North Pacific
Lithosphere
The rigid, outermost shell of a terrestrial-type planet or natural satellite that is defined by its rigid mechanical properties
Lower mantle
The region from 660 to 2900 km below Earth's surface
Mid-ocean ridge
Basaltic underwater mountain system formed by plate tectonic spreading
Nazca plate
Oceanic tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin
North American plate
Large tectonic plate including most of North America, Greenland and part of Siberia.
Oceanic crust
The uppermost layer of the oceanic portion of a tectonic plate
Oceanic trench
Long and narrow depressions of the sea floor
Orogeny
The formation of mountain ranges
Pacific plate
An oceanic tectonic plate under the Pacific Ocean
Passive margin
The transition between oceanic and continental lithosphere that is not an active plate margin
Philippine Sea plate
Oceanic tectonic plate to the east of the Philippines
Plate tectonics
Movement of the Earth's lithosphere
Pull-apart basin
A structural basin where two overlapping faults or a fault bend creates an area of crustal extension which causes the basin to subside
Ridge push
A proposed driving force for tectonic plate motion as the result of the lithosphere sliding down the raised asthenosphere below mid-ocean ridges
Rift
A linear zone where the Earth's crust is being pulled apart, and is an example of extensional tectonics
Shield (geology)
A large stable area of exposed Precambrian crystalline rock
Slab (geology)
The portion of a tectonic plate that is being subducted
Slab pull
The part of the motion of a tectonic plate caused by its subduction
South American plate
Major tectonic plate which includes most of South America and a large part of the south Atlantic
Subduction
A geological process at convergent tectonic plate boundaries where one plate moves under the other
Tectonic uplift
The portion of the total geologic uplift of the mean earth surface that is not attributable to an isostatic response to unloading
Transform fault
Plate boundary where the motion is predominantly horizontal
Triple junction
The point where the boundaries of three tectonic plates meet