You can also find rigid plates made out of the plastic polyethylene.

They have cleats locking the foot in place and a full rigid plate in the sole to distribute pressure evenly.

The numerous rigid plates that form the Earth's surface float on a hot, viscous mantle.

The formation of plumes could have been triggered from above by the reorganization of the earth's rigid plates as they drifted apart, he said.

This coupling between rigid plates moving on the surface of the Earth and the convecting mantle is called plate tectonics.

Any thin but rigid plate of solid material, esp.

The Earth's crust is composed of scores of relatively rigid plates that float on a hot, viscous mantle below.

The front part is rectangular with a carapace-like structure of four rigid cuticular plates, with a large mouth at the front end.

Under that unifying theory of geology, the earth's crust, known as the lithosphere, is a collection of rigid plates moving in relation to each other.

"The concept of rigid plates is better than a conveyor belt," Mr. Vine said.