Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun plate_tectonics
1 sense of plate tectonics
Sense 1
tectonics, plate tectonics, plate tectonic theory -- (the branch of geology studying the folding and faulting of the earth's crust)
=> morphology, geomorphology -- (the branch of geology that studies the characteristics and configuration and evolution of rocks and land forms)