page_title: List of tectonic plates
section_title: North American Plate
hierarchical_section_title: List of tectonic plates / Ancient continental formations / Ancient plates and cratons / North American Plate
caption_attribution_description: North American cratons and basement rocks. As radiometric ages were determined for the shield-like rocks on the continents which were either exposed at the surface, underlay the flat rocks, or were within the interior of the mountain belts, patterns of age intervals were determined. These old rocks have been called the "basement". This has been interpreted to mean that the continents had somehow grown by development of rock assemblages with these characteristic age parameters. The expanding continental nuclei are part of the "craton" which consist of both exposed and buried basement rocks.
context_page_description: This is a list of tectonic plates on Earth's surface. Tectonic plates are pieces of Earth's crust and uppermost mantle, together referred to as the lithosphere. The plates are around 100 km thick and consist of two principal types of material: oceanic crust and continental crust. The composition of the two types of crust differs markedly, with mafic basaltic rocks dominating oceanic crust, while continental crust consists principally of lower-density felsic granitic rocks.
context_section_description: Avalonia – microcontinent in the Paleozoic era (Canada, Great Britain, and United States)
  Carolina Plate – exotic terrane from central Georgia to central Virginia in the United States
  Churchill Craton – The northwest section of the Canadian Shield from southern Saskatchewan and Alberta to northern Nunavut (Canada)
  Farallon Plate – An ancient oceanic plate that has mostly subducted under the west coast of the North American Plate (split into the Cocos, Explorer, Juan de Fuca, Gorda Plates, Nazca Plate, and Rivera Plates)
  Florida Plate (United States)
  Hearne Craton – A craton in northern Canada which, together with the Rae Craton, forms the Western Churchill Province (Canada)
  Laurentian Craton, also known as North American Craton – A large continental craton that forms the ancient geological core of the North American continent (Canada and United States)
  Insular Plate – Ancient oceanic plate that began subducting under the west-coast of North America around the early Cretaceous time
  Intermontane Plate – Ancient oceanic tectonic plate on the west coast of North America about 195 million years ago
  Izanagi Plate – An ancient tectonic plate, which was subducted beneath the Okhotsk Plate
  Mexican Plate
  Nain Province – Part of the North Atlantic Craton in Labrador, Canada (Canada)
  Newfoundland Plate
  North Atlantic Craton – An Archaean craton exposed in southern West Greenland, the Nain Province in Labrador, and the Lewisian complex in northwestern Scotland
  Nova Scotia Plate
  Rae Craton – An Archean craton in northern Canada north of the Superior Craton (Canada)
  Sask Craton (Canada)
  Sclavia Craton – A late Archean supercraton thought to be parental to the Slave and Wyoming Cratons in North America, the Dharwar Craton in southern India, and the Zimbabwe Craton in southern Africa (Canada)
  Slave Craton – An Archaean craton in the north-western Canadian Shield, in Northwest Territories and Nunavut (Canada)
  Superior Craton – Large crustal block in North America (Canada)
  Wyoming Craton – A craton in the west-central United States and western Canada (United States)
caption: North American cratons and basement rocks
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