The phrase "african plate" is correct and usable in written English, although it should be capitalized as "African Plate." You can use it when referring to the tectonic plate that covers the continent of Africa and surrounding oceanic areas in geological or geographical contexts.
Example: "The movement of the African Plate has significant implications for the geology of the region."
Alternatives: "African tectonic plate" or "African continental plate."
Cape Verde is comparatively far from the edge of the African Plate.
On the one hand, Italy itself is a protrusion of the African plate, thrusting into Europe like a javelin.
This rift demarcates the boundary between the Indian Ocean plate, which is tugging eastward and the relatively stable African plate.
The earthquakes in the far north of Africa are the result of the collision between the African Plate and Europe.
Coblentz, D. D. & Sandiford, M. Tectonic stresses in the African plate: Constraints on the ambient lithospheric stress state.
There, the African plate subducts under the European plate, similar to the movement of the Gorda plate beneath North America north of California's Cape Mendocino.
The Bétic Cordillera was produced by NW SE oblique convergence between the Eurasian and African Plates.
These units are the result of widespread foreland deformation of the Iberian plate interior in response to Alpine convergence of European and African plates.
During the middle and later parts of the Carboniferous, the Hercynian mountain-building episodes occurred as a result of collision between the North American and African plates.
The Italian peninsula across the Mediterranean Sea is part of the tectonic plate boundary - the accommodation zone -- between the Eurasian and the African plates, which continue to move closer to each other.
The complex tectonic interaction processes between the European and African plates at the Western Mediterranean have left marked imprints in the crustal architecture of this area, particularly concerning the lateral variations in crustal thicknesses.
