What best describes a continental plate?

What best describes a continental plate?

• A. A tectonic plate primarily composed of basalt and found beneath the ocean.
• B. A boundary where continents drift apart.
• C. A tectonic plate that forms the continents and is primarily composed of granite.
• D. A layer of molten rock at the surface that reshapes land.

Answer: (C)

Continental plates are pieces of Earth's lithosphere that carry the continents. They are thicker and less dense than oceanic plates, and their crust is mainly granitic—made from light-colored, silica-rich rocks like granite. This granitic composition is a hallmark of continental crust, which is why describing a continental plate as forming the continents and being primarily granite is the best fit. The other ideas point to oceanic crust (basaltic and under oceans), a plate boundary rather than the plate itself, or a molten layer at the surface, none of which capture what a continental plate is.

Continental plates are pieces of Earth's lithosphere that carry the continents. They are thicker and less dense than oceanic plates, and their crust is mainly granitic—made from light-colored, silica-rich rocks like granite. This granitic composition is a hallmark of continental crust, which is why describing a continental plate as forming the continents and being primarily granite is the best fit. The other ideas point to oceanic crust (basaltic and under oceans), a plate boundary rather than the plate itself, or a molten layer at the surface, none of which capture what a continental plate is.