What is the North American plate?
Q: What is the North American plate?
A: The North American plate is a large tectonic plate that covers most of North America, Greenland, Cuba, the Bahamas, parts of Iceland and the Azores, and extreme northeastern Asia.
Q: What is the area of the North American plate?
A: The area of the North American plate is 76,000,000 km2 (29,000,000 sq mi).
Q: What is the position of the North American plate in relation to other tectonic plates?
A: The North American plate is the Earth's second-largest tectonic plate, behind the Pacific Plate, which borders it to the west.
Q: What kinds of crust does the North American plate include?
A: The North American plate includes both continental and oceanic crust.
Q: What is the interior of the North American plate's landmass composed of?
A: The interior of the North American plate's landmass is an extensive granitic craton.
Q: What are the fragments of crustal material called that are stuck on to the craton over a long span of time?
A: The fragments of crustal material are called terranes.
Q: What is much of North America west of the Rocky Mountains composed of?
A: Much of North America west of the Rocky Mountains is composed of terranes that are stuck on (accreted) to the craton over a long span of time.
