tectonic
18
7.2
- adjective
- /tɛkˈtɒnɪk/
- Specialized
:
tectónico
- Apparently, the Moon is causing a drastic increase in tectonic activity.
- tectonic plates
- tectonic plates
- tectonic shift
It was a, it was a tectonic plate shift.
- It was a, it was a tectonic plate shift.
- They, they build these big channels and then the tectonic plates shift.
- So the tectonic plates of the Earth move millimeter by millimeter over the decades, centuries, millennia.
- Yeah, it goes so deep under tectonic plates and stuff.
- Well, Shredder, you see, there's tectonic plates.
- What are the tectonic plates that have led us to this state that we're in?
- So it's a it's a instance where you have tectonic plates moving around and some weird things that might happen at the.
- So I felt like those tectonic plates reached their destination last night, like they continued moving.
Examples
-
The international system is in the midst of tectonic change due to the diffusion of wealth and power to new quarters.
Academic text (2012) -
The tectonic plates are starting to pull apart underneath the island.
-
What are the tectonic plates that have led us to this state that we're in?
-
Then you should be able to see the fault lines, which exist Along the edges of the tectonic plate.
-
These are tectonic plates that are shifting right under us.
-
Most major earthquakes occur where tectonic plates converge.
-
I'm sure you're aware of this, that our continents sit on tectonic plates.
-
So the tectonic plates of the Earth move millimeter by millimeter over the decades, centuries, millennia.
-
South Sandwich Trench is a tectonic plate under the Scotia Sea near Antarctica.
Blog text (33) -
Most major earthquakes occur along the boundaries of tectonic plates.
Synonyms
Relating to movements that bend or break the Earth's crust to form mountains
Compounds
- Specialized
1
4.9
Movement of large parts of the Earth's outer layer that makes earthquakes or mountains
- Specialized
A scientific idea that Earth's outer layer of rock moves in large plates and causes earthquakes, volcanoes and mountains
How Stable
Surface Forms
Morphology
tectonic = tecton + ic
The combining form 'tecton-' is not a standalone English word and the geological sense is a specialized technical meaning, so learners cannot reliably derive the meaning from common English components.
Etymology
Tectonic comes from the Greek root tekton, which means 'builder' and is the same root found in architect. So in geology tectonic describes the 'building' or structure of the earth's crust and how its plates move.