Pacific Plate

[ puh-sif-ik pleyt ]

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Pacific Plate¹

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

That can illustrate subtle tectonic plate action between major earthquakes, illustrating how the Pacific plate, where L.A. is located, is nudging northwest relative to the North American plate, where the Mojave Desert is located.

From Los Angeles Times

For her PhD-research, Diaz-Recio Lorenzo looked at the copepods that she collected at hydrothermal vents in the Lau-basin, on the border of the Australian and the Pacific plate, near the island of Tonga.

From Science Daily

They identified three primary sources for this ancient water: the Philippine Sea Plate, the Pacific Plate, and ancient seafloor sediments, particularly in the Niigata and southwest Gunma regions.

From Science Daily

Based on the geographical distribution of spa waters, they were categorized into three groups: those consistent with the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate or the Pacific Plate and those showing minimal isotopic evolution and thus not aligning with either plate.

From Science Daily

Van de Lagemaat and her colleagues were initially studying the Pacific plate under the Pacific Ocean.

From Scientific American