The story
Blend of Nevada + altiplano. Coined by American geoscientist Peter G. DeCelles in a 2004 paper in the American Journal of Science.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Nevadaplano
Today it means: A high-elevation orogenic plateau that once existed during the Tertiary period in what is modern North America’s Great Basin, analogous to today’s high-elevation South American altiplano. Full definition →