Cocos Plate

noun

, Geology.

1. a tectonic division of the earth's crust, coincident with the oceanic Guatemala Basin, and bounded on the north and east by the Central American Trench, on the west by the East Pacific Rise, and on the south by the Nazca Plate.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Cocos Plate¹

First recorded in 1930–35; named after Cocos Island, which rides upon the plate

Example Sentences

Monday’s earthquake was the result of the “interaction of the Cocos plate with the North America plate,” which also generated the 1985 earthquake.

From Seattle Times

The springs were 40 to 120 kilometers above the subduction zone where the Cocos Plate dives beneath Central America.

From Science Magazine

According to a new study, published in Nature Geoscience, the approximately 37-mile long Cocos plate split apart in a few seconds and released exorbitant amounts of energy.

From Fox News

As for the 8.2 Mexican quake from last year, it ruptured the Cocos plate, which is relatively young at 25-million-years old, and generated a 6-foot tsunami.

From Fox News

They think that seawater infiltrated into the Cocos plate and potentially accelerated the cooling, which also made it more prone to the types of earthquakes seen in older and colder locations.

From Fox News