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craton - 4 dictionary results
cra⋅ton
[krey-ton] 
tɒn
–noun Geology.
| a relatively rigid and immobile region of continental portions of the earth's crust. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To craton
| cra·ton (krā'tŏn') n. A large portion of a continental plate that has been relatively undisturbed since the Precambrian era and includes both shield and platform layers. [German Kraton, from Greek kratos, power; see kar- in Indo-European roots.] cra·ton'ic (krə-tŏn'ĭk) adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
| craton (krā'tŏn') Pronunciation Key
A large portion of a continental plate that has been relatively undisturbed since the Precambrian era and includes both shield and platform layers. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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craton
the stable interior portion of a continent characteristically composed of ancient crystalline basement rock. The term craton is used to distinguish such regions from mobile geosynclinal troughs, which are linear belts of sediment accumulations subject to subsidence (i.e., downwarping). The extensive central cratons of continents may consist of both shields and platforms. A shield is that part of a craton in which (usually) Precambrian basement rocks crop out extensively at the surface. By contrast, in a platform the basement is overlain by horizontal or subhorizontal sediments.
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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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