The stable continental crust, including the shield and stable platform areas, most of which have not been affected by significant tectonic activity since the close of the Precambrian Era.

A part of the earths crust that has attained stability, and has been little deformed for a prolonged period.

a part of the earth's crust that has attained stability and has been little deformed in recent geologic time. It usually refers to the oldest core of a continent. Synonym : "shield".

that part of the earth's crust which has been stable for at least 1,500 million years

A part of the earth's crust which has attained stablity and has been little deformed over a prolonged period of geologic time.

the part of a continent that is stable and forms the central mass of the continent; typically Precambrian

a lot like a shield, a large shield-type area

a stable, relatively immobile area of the earth's crust that forms the nuclear mass of a continent or the central basin of an ocean

A portion of a continent that has remained relatively stable and undeformed over geologic time.

A portion of the Earth's crust which has been stable for a geologically long period of time. Most diamondiferous kimberlites worldwide are associated with Archean cratons.

An old portion of the earth's crust which is relatively stable. Most of the rock tends to be granitic in character. The two cratons in South Africa are the Kaapvaal Craton and the Richtersveld Craton. The Karoo Sequence and Cape Fold Belt are the major sequences which do not cover cratons.

a part of the Earth.s crust which has attained stability and which has been little deformed for a prolonged period, generally found in the central regions of continents.

describes an area of the Earth's crust that has not been significantly affected or reshaped by tectonic processes over geologically long periods of time. An Archaean craton is a crustal fragment that has not been significantly affected by peripheral tectonic prosesses since ~2.5 Ga (billion years ago). Globally, most diamondiferous kimberlites are associated with Archaean cratons.

The relatively stable nucleus of a continent. Cratons are made up of a shield-like core of Precambrian Rock and a buried extension of the shield. more details...

Part of the earth's crust that has been stable and little deformed for a prolonged period of time.

Greek kratynein "solidify" The stable, hardened, consolidated part of the earth's crust, in contrast with mobile zones.

n. A part of the Earth's crust that has attained stability and has been little deformed for a long period of time, refers only to continents; cratonic- adj.

The relatively stable part of a continent; consists of a Precambrian shield and a platform, a buried extension of a shield; the ancient nucleus of a continent.

Stable foundation core of the Earth's various plates of continental crust. Composed of the shield and platform.

The segment of the Earth's continents that have remained tectonically stable and relatively earthquake-free for a vast period of time. The craton is composed of the continental shield and the surrounding continental platform.

The ancient, stable interior region of a continent, usually composed of Precambrian rocks [LCOTE

A craton (kratos; Greek for strength) is an old and stable part of the continental crust that has survived the merging and splitting of continents and supercontinents for at least 500 million years. Some are over 2 billion years old. Cratons are generally found in the interiors of continents and are characteristically composed of ancient crystalline basement crust of lightweight felsic igneous rock such as granite.