Please help me out here. I think I have an idea of what it is simply by breaking down the term into it's components - 'thermo' and 'elastic' and 'wave'. But, I'm not finding a general definition of what this is anywhere online so I can be sure.

There's not even a wikipedia entry.

I think the group could use a definition here.

What are they in general? and what is their currently accepted place in geology/tectonics? (need to understand current ideas before moving on to new ones)

Brian