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