Start a new discussion about 'List of tectonic plates'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum
Encyclopedia
This is a list of tectonic plates on Earth. Tectonic plate
Tectonic Plate
#REDIRECT Plate tectonics... s are pieces of the Earth's crust
Crust (geology)
In geology, a crust is the outermost solid shell of a planet or moon, which is chemically distinct from the underlying mantle . Crusts of Earth , our Moon, Mercury , Venus, and Mars have been generated largely by igneous processes, and these crusts are richer in incompatible elements than their respective mantle s.... and uppermost mantle, together referred to as the lithosphere
Lithosphere
File:Plates tect2 en.svgFile:Earth-crust-cutaway-english.svgThe lithosphere is the rigid outermost shell of a rocky planet.... . The plates are around 100 km (60 miles) thick and consist of two principal types of material: oceanic crust
Oceanic crust
Oceanic crust is the part of Earth's lithosphere that surfaces in the ocean basins. Oceanic crust is primarily composed of mafic rocks, or Sima .... (also called sima
Sima (geology)
Sima is the name for the lower layer of the Earth's crust . This layer is made of rocks rich in silicates and magnesium minerals. Typically the sima when it comes to the surface is basalt, so sometimes this layer is called the 'basalt layer' of the crust.... from silicon
Silicon
Silicon is the most common metalloid. It is a chemical element, which has the symbol Si and atomic number 14. The atomic mass is 28.0855.... and magnesium
Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, atomic weight 24.3050 and common oxidation number +2.Magnesium, an alkaline earth metal, is the ninth most abundance of the chemical elements in the universe by mass.... ) and continental crust
Continental crust
The continental crust is the layer of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks which form the continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to their shores, known as Continental shelf.... (sial
Sial
In geology, the sial is the upper layer of the Earth's crust made of rocks rich in silicates and aluminium minerals. It is sometimes equated with the continental crust because it is absent in the wide oceanic basins, but "sial" is a Geochemistry term rather than a Plate tectonics term.... from silicon and aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13.... ). The composition of the two types of crust differs markedly, with basaltic
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually gray to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet.... rocks ("mafic
Mafic
Mafic is an adjective describing a silicate mineral or rock that is rich in magnesium and iron; the term was derived by contracting "magnesium" and "ferric".... ") dominating oceanic crust, while continental crust consists principally of lower density
Density
The density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol of density is .... granitic
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of Intrusion , felsic, igneous rock rock . Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as Porphyry .... rocks ("felsic
Felsic
Felsic is a term used in geology to refer to silicate minerals, magma, and rock which are enriched in the lighter elements such as silicon, oxygen, aluminium, sodium, and potassium.... ").
The surface of the Earth consists of 15 major plates and 41 minor ones 11 Ancient plates and 3 plates within orogens, for a total of 70 plates.
The Bird's Head Plate is a minor tectonic plate under the western end of the island of New Guinea which is now believed to be moving in unison with the Pacific Plate.... , because of it unusual moving pattern with the Pacific Plate.
The African Plate is a tectonic plate which includes the continent of Africa, as well as oceanic crust which lies between the continent and various surrounding ocean ridges....
The Antarctic Plate is a tectonic plate covering the continent of Antarctica and extending outward under the surrounding oceans. The Antarctic Plate has a boundary with the Nazca Plate, the South American Plate, the African Plate, the Indo-Australian Plate, the Scotia Plate and a divergent boundary with the Pacific Plate forming the Pacific...
The Arabian Plate is one of three tectonic plates which have been moving northward over millions of years toward an inevitable collision with Eurasia....
The Cocos Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Central America, named for Cocos Island, which rides upon it....
The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia , with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent, and the area east of the Chersky Range in East Siberia....
The Juan de Fuca Plate, named after the Juan de Fuca, is a tectonic plate arising from the Juan de Fuca Ridge, and subduction under the northerly portion of the western side of the North American Plate at the Cascadia subduction zone....
The Nazca Plate, named after the Nazca region of southern Peru, is an oceanic tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin off the west coast of South America....
The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Greenland and part of Siberia. It extends eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and westward to the Chersky Range in eastern Siberia....
The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean.To the north the easterly side is a divergent boundary with the Explorer Plate, the Juan de Fuca Plate and the Gorda Plate forming respectively the Explorer Ridge, the Juan de Fuca Ridge and the Gorda Ridge....
File:Philippine Sea plate.JPGThe Philippine Sea Plate is a tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean to the east of the Philippines. The Philippine Sea Plate comprises oceanic lithosphere that lies beneath the Philippine Sea, and so has been referred to in the scientific literature of the last 50 years as the Philippine Sea Plate....
The Scotia Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate bordering the South American Plate on the north, the South Sandwich Plate to the east, and the Antarctic Plate on the south and west....
The South American Plate is a tectonic plate covering the continent of South America and extending eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.The easterly side is a divergent boundary with the African Plate forming the southern part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge....
The Aegean Sea Plate is a small tectonic plate located in the eastern Mediterranean Sea under southern Greece and far western Turkey. It is sandwiched between the African Plate to the south and the Eurasian Plate to the north....
The Altiplano Plate is a tectonic plate located in southern Peru, western Bolivia and far northern Chile. It consists mostly of the central Andes and the Altiplano of Peru and Bolivia....
The Amurian Plate is a proposed continental tectonic plate covering Manchuria, the Korean Peninsula, Western Japan, and Primorsky Krai. It is not clear yet whether it is an independent plate or a part of the Eurasian Plate....
The Anatolian Plate is a continental tectonic plate consisting primarily of the country of Turkey.The easterly side is a boundary with the Arabian Plate, the East Anatolian Fault, a left lateral transform fault....
The Adriatic or Apulian Plate is a small tectonic plate carrying primarily continental crust that broke away from the African plate along a large transform fault in the Cretaceous period....
The Balmoral Reef Plate is a small tectonic plate located in the south Pacific north of Fiji. Clockwise from the north, it borders the Pacific Plate, Australian Plate, Conway Reef Plate, and the New Hebrides Plate....
The Banda Sea Plate is a small tectonic plate underlying the Banda Sea in southeast Asia. This plate also carries a portion of the island of Sulawesi, the entire island of Seram, and the Banda Islands....
The Bird's Head Plate is a minor tectonic plate under the western end of the island of New Guinea which is now believed to be moving in unison with the Pacific Plate....
The Burma Plate is a small tectonic plate or microplate located in Southeast Asia, often considered a part of the larger Eurasian Plate. The Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands, and northwestern Sumatra are located on the plate....
The Caroline Plate is a small tectonic plate located north of New Guinea. It forms a subduction zone along the border with the Bird's Head Plate and the Woodlark Plate to the south....
The Conway Reef Plate is a small tectonic plate located in the south Pacific west of Fiji. It is bounded on the east and west by convergent boundaries, the western boundary is with the New Hebrides Plate while the eastern is with the Australian Plate....
The Easter Plate is a small tectonic plate or microplate in the southeastern Pacific. The plate is bounded on the west by the Pacific Plate, and the east by the Nazca Plate....
The Futuna Plate is a very small tectonic plate located near the south Pacific island of Futuna.It is sandwiched between the Pacific Plate to the north and the Australian Plate to the south with the Niuafo'ou Plate to the east....
The Galapagos Microplate is a small Plate tectonics off the west coast of South America near the Galapagos Islands. It differs from most other Crust in that it is rotating clockwise between three much larger crustal plates around it, the Nazca Plate, Cocos Plate and Pacific Plate Plates....
The Iranian Plate is thought to underlay Iran, parts of Iraq and Pakistan.It is squashed between the Arabian Plate to the south and the Eurasian Plate to the north....
The Kermadec Plate is a long narrow tectonic plate located west of the Kermadec Trench in the south Pacific. Also included on this plate is a portion of the North Island of New Zealand and the Kermadec Islands....
The Kula Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate under the northern Pacific Ocean south of the Near Islands segment of the Aleutian Islands. It is subduction under the North American Plate at the Aleutian Trench and is surrounded by the Pacific Plate....
The Manus Plate is a tiny tectonic plate located northeast of New Guinea. It is sandwiched between the North Bismarck Plate and the South Bismarck Plate....
The Maoke Plate is a small tectonic plate located in western New Guinea underlying the Sudirman Range from which the highest mountain on the island- Puncak Jaya rises....
File:Cross section of mariana trench.jpgThe Mariana Plate is a small tectonic plate located west of the Mariana Trench and forms the basement of the Mariana Islands....
The Molucca Sea Plate is a small tectonic plate that carries northern Sulawesi, the Molucca Sea and a portion of the Banda Sea in a region littered with numerous small plates....
The New Hebrides Plate is a minor tectonic plate located in the Pacific Ocean near the island nation of Vanuatu. The plate is bounded on the southwest by the Indo-Australian Plate which is subduction below it....
The Niuafo'ou Plate is a small tectonic plate located west of the islands of Tonga. This plate is sandwiched between the Pacific Plate to the north, the very unstable Tonga Plate to the east and the Australian Plate to the west....
The North Andes Plate is a small tectonic plate located in the northern Andes. It is squeezed between the faster moving South American Plate and the Nazca Plate....
The North Bismarck Plate is a small tectonic plate located in the Bismarck Sea off the northeast coast of New Guinea. To the north it collides with the Pacific Plate and the Caroline Plate, part of the western part subducts under the Woodlark Plate of New Guinea, and it is separated from the South Bismarck Plate by a divergent boundary....
The Okhotsk Plate is a tectonic plate covering the Sea of Okhotsk, the Kamchatka Peninsula, and Eastern Japan. It was formerly considered a part of the North American Plate, but recent studies indicate that it is an independent plate, bounded on the north by the North American Plate....
The Okinawa Plate is a long narrow tectonic plate stretching from the northern end of Taiwan to the southern tip of the island of Kyushu. To the east lies the Ryukyu Trench and the Pacific Plate....
The Rivera Plate is a small tectonic plate located off the west coast of Mexico, just south of the Baja California Peninsula. It is bounded on the northwest by the East Pacific Rise, on the southwest by the Rivera Transform Fault, on the southeast by a deformation zone, and on the northeast by the Middle America Trench and another deformati...
The South Sandwich Plate or list of tectonic plates#Minor plates is a tectonic plate bounded by the subducting South American Plate to the east, the Antarctic Plate to the south and the Scotia plate to the west....
The Shetland Plate is a small tectonic plate located off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.It is mostly surrounded by the Antarctic Plate, the western border being a subduction zone....
The Solomon Sea Plate is a minor plate tectonics to the northwest of the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific Ocean.The tectonic regime in this part of the world is extremely complex and involves a number of minor as well as major plates....
The South Bismarck Plate is a small tectonic plate located in the southern Bismarck Sea. The eastern part of New Guinea and the island of New Britain are on this plate....
The Sunda Plate is a tectonic plate located in southeast Asia and commonly considered a part of the Eurasian Plate. The Sunda includes the South China Sea, the Andaman Sea, southern parts of Vietnam and Thailand along with Malaysia and the islands of Borneo, Sumatra, Java , and part of the Celebes in Indonesia, plus the south-western Phili...
The Timor Plate is a microplate in southeast Asia carrying the island of Timor and surrounding islands. The Australian Plate is subducting under the southern edge of the plate, while a small divergent boundary is located on the eastern edge....
The Tonga Plate is a small southwest Pacific tectonic plate or microplate. It is centered at approximately 19? S. latitude and 173? E. longitude....
Woodlark Plate
Yangtze Plate
Plates within orogens
Some models identify more minor plates within current orogens
Orogeny
Orogeny refers to natural mountain building, and may be studied as a tectonic structural event, as a geographical event, and a chronological event: orogenic events cause distinctive structural phenomena and related tectonic activity, affect certain regions of rocks and crust, and happen within a specific period of time.... .
The Adriatic or Apulian Plate is a small tectonic plate carrying primarily continental crust that broke away from the African plate along a large transform fault in the Cretaceous period....
The Explorer Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada.To the east, the Explorer Plate is being subduction under the North American Plate....
The Gorda Plate, located beneath the Pacific Ocean off the coast of northern California, is one of the northern remnants of the Farallon Plate. It is sometimes referred to as simply the southernmost portion of the neighboring Juan de Fuca Plate, another Farallon remnant....
The Baltic Plate was an ancient tectonic plate that existed from the Cambrian period to the Carboniferous period. The Baltic Plate collided against Siberia , to form the Ural Mountains about 500 million years ago....
The Bellingshausen Plate was an ancient tectonic plate that fused onto the Antarctic Plate. It is named after the Baltic German-Russian explorer of Antarctica, Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen....
The Charcot Plate was a fragment of the older, Phoenix Plate. The Charcot Plate was subducting under West Antarctica. The subduction of the Charcot Plate stopped before 83 Ma, and became fusion onto the Antarctic Peninsula....
The Cimmerian Plate is an ancient tectonic plate that comprises parts of present-day Anatolia, Iran, Afghanistan, Tibet, Indochina and Malay Peninsula regions....
The Farallon Plate was an ancient oceanic plate, which began subducting under the west coast of the North American Plate— then located in modern Utah— as Pangaea broke apart during the Jurassic period....
The Insular Plate was an ancient oceanic plate that began subducting under the west-coast of North America around the early Cretaceous time. The Insular Plate had a chain of active volcanic islands that were called the Insular Islands....
The Intermontane Plate was an ancient oceanic tectonic plate, that lay on the west coast of North America about 195 million years ago. The Intermontane Plate had a chain of volcanic islands called the Intermontane Islands....
The Izanagi Plate was an ancient tectonic plate, which began Subduction beneath the eastern Eurasian Plate during 130 - 100 Ma. The rapid plate motion of the Izanagi Plate caused the northward drift of north-west Japan and the outer zone of south-west Japan....
The Phoenix Plate was an ancient tectonic plate that existed during the mid-Cretaceous through early Tertiary time. The Phoenix Plate began subducting under the Antarctic Plate....
