Pacific-type continental margin

Pacific-type continental margin

[pə′sif·ik ‚tīp ‚känt·ən′ent·əl ′mär·jən]

(geology)

A continental margin typified by that of the western Pacific where oceanic lithosphere descends beneath an adjacent continent and produces an intervening island arc system.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.