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The oldest continental crust is found in large, stable areas with little seismic/volcanic activity found in the centre of continents, called Cratons. Examples of these are Yilgarn Craton in Australia, and the Kaapvaal Craton in South Africa. The oldest rocks found within these cratons can be up to 3.8 billion years old (3,800 million).
However, because the forces of erosion and deposition are always at work creating new rocks, continental crust also contains much younger rocks - some only a few hundred thousand years old.
In short, there is no specific age for continental crust, and unlike oceanic crust that is created and destroyed at a fairly constant rate, continental crust is less dense and thus doesn't undergo subduction at plate boundaries. Less "recycling" means older rocks are more likely to survive.
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Which type of plate is thicker continental or oceanic?
Continental plate.
Is the Pacific plate and oceanic plate or continental plate?
It is oceanic
The thickest plate oceanic or continental?
Continental plate.
When a continental plate and an oceanic plate collide why does the oceanic plate sink below the continental plate?
It's because the oceanic plate is more dense than the continental plate.
Is the African plate continental or oceanic?
the african plate is continental
Is African plate continental or oceanic?
the african plate is continental
When an ocean plate collides with a continental plate it does what?
It subducts under the continental plate because the oceanic plate is denser.
What is an example of a continental to continental crust collision?
the recent earthquake in japan is an of the movement plate techtonics
What explains the observation that when a continental and oceanic plate collide the oceanic plate dives down under the continental plate?
The oceanic plate must be more dense than the continental plate for this to happen.
What is continental-continental subduction?
the oceanic plate is more dense and subducts, or goes below, the continental plate.
Does an ocean crustal plate rises at a convergent boundary with a continental plate?
No. It subducts under the continental plate.
What will happen if a seafloor plate collides with a continental plate?
It will subduct under the less dense continental plate.
