North American Plate

A Dictionary of Earth Sciences | 1999 | 455 words | Copyright

North American Plate One of the present-day major lithospheric plates, the N. American Plate extends from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the east to a complex pattern of subduction zones and transform faults which form its boundaries with the Pacific, Juan de Fuca, Gorda, Cocos, Caribbean, and South American Plates in the west and south. Along the western side, the N. American Cordillera has been interpreted as a collage of accreted allochthonous terranes.

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AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "North American Plate." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "North American Plate." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-NorthAmericanPlate.html