List of tectonic plates

List of tectonic plates

This is a list of tectonic plates on Earth. Tectonic plates are pieces of the Earth's crust and uppermost mantle, together referred to as the lithosphere. The plates are around 100 km (60 miles) thick and consist of two principal types of material: oceanic crust (also called "sima" from silicon and magnesium) and continental crust ("sial" from silicon and aluminium). The composition of the two types of crust differs markedly, with basaltic rocks ("mafic") dominating oceanic crust, while continental crust consists principally of lower density granitic rocks ("felsic").

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.

Current plates

Major plates

* African Plate
* Antarctic Plate
* Arabian Plate
* Australian Plate
* Caribbean Plate
* Cocos Plate
* Eurasian Plate
* Indian Plate
* Juan de Fuca Plate
* Nazca Plate
* North American Plate
* Pacific Plate
* Philippine Plate
* Scotia Plate
* South American Plate

Minor plates

* Aegean Sea Plate
* Altiplano Plate
* Amurian Plate
* Anatolian Plate
* Balmoral Reef Plate
* Banda Sea Plate
* Bird's Head Plate
* Burma Plate
* Caroline Plate
* Conway Reef Plate
* Easter Plate
* Futuna Plate
* Galapagos Plate
* Hellenic Plate
* Iranian Plate
* Jan Mayen Plate
* Juan Fernandez Plate
* Kermadec Plate
* Kula Plate
* Manus Plate
* Maoke Plate
* Mariana Plate
* Molucca Sea Plate
* New Hebrides Plate
* Niuafo'ou Plate
* North Andes Plate
* North Bismarck Plate
* Okhotsk Plate
* Okinawa Plate
* Panama Plate
* Rivera Plate
* Sandwich Plate
* Shetland Plate
* Solomon Sea Plate
* Somali Plate
* South Bismarck Plate
* Sunda Plate
* Timor Plate
* Tonga Plate
* Woodlark Plate
* Yangtze Plate

Plates within orogens

Some models identify more minor plates within current orogens.
* Apulian Plate
* Explorer Plate
* Gorda Plate

Ancient plates

* Baltic Plate
* Bellingshausen Plate
* Charcot Plate
* Cimmerian Plate
* Farallon Plate
* Insular Plate
* Intermontane Plate
* Izanagi Plate
* Lhasa Plate
* Moa Plate
* Phoenix Plate

References

*Bird, P. (2003) [http://element.ess.ucla.edu/publications/2003_PB2002/2003_PB2002.htm "An updated digital model of plate boundaries"] also available as a [http://element.ess.ucla.edu/publications/2003_PB2002/2001GC000252.pdf large (13 Mib) PDF file]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • List of tectonic plate interactions — See plate tectonics for a more complete discussion Tectonic plate interactions are of three different basic types: * Divergent boundaries are areas where plates move away from each other, forming either mid oceanic ridges or rift valleys. *… …   Wikipedia

  • List of geology topics — This is a list of all articles related to geology that cannot be readily placed on the following subtopic pages: Geology subtopics* Geologic time scale * List of compounds * List of earthquakes * List of elements by name * List of geology of… …   Wikipedia

  • List of plate tectonics topics — This is a list of articles related to plate tectonics and tectonic plates.*African Plate *Anatolian Plate *Antarctic Plate *Arabian Plate *Asthenosphere *Back arc basin *Blind thrust earthquake *Cocos Plate *Continent *Continental drift… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Andromeda star systems — The Known Worlds of the fictional Andromeda universe include more than a million star systems, scattered across the galaxies of the Local Group. Slipstream travel discovered by the Vedrans made actual distance irrelevant and allowed them to… …   Wikipedia

  • List of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction — This is a list of apocalyptic and post apocalyptic fiction works, sorted by the nature of the catastrophe portrayed.World War III and other apocalyptic wars (between humans)Films1930s*1936. Things to Come , in which an extended future second… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Alex Rider characters — This is a list of protagonists and antagonists from British author Anthony Horowitz s Alex Rider series. This includes characters from the novels, the film, the graphic novels, and the short stories. Contents 1 Main Antagonists 1.1 Ash 1.2 Sir… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Fullmetal Alchemist characters — Several characters from Fullmetal Alchemist as depicted in the first anime. The Fullmetal Alchemist anime and manga series feature an extensive cast of fictional characters created by Hiromu Arakawa. The story is set in a fictional universe… …   Wikipedia

  • List of earthquakes in Indonesia — This is an incomplete list of more recent recorded major earthquakes that have occurred within the boundaries of Indonesia as indicated by the geology of the region, and the volcanic activity much large numbers of earthquakes of smaller magnitude …   Wikipedia

  • List of Huguenots — Some notable Huguenots or people with Huguenot ancestry include:*Jacques Abbadie, French theologian *Moses Amyraut, French theologian, proponent of Amyraldism *Charles Ancillon, French jurist and diplomat *John André, British officer and spy… …   Wikipedia

  • List of supercontinents — In reverse chronological order (stratolithic order) comprising nearly all land at the time.Possible Future Supercontinents*Pangaea Ultima or Amasia ( 250 400 million years from now) *Australia Antarctica Afro Eurasia ( 130 million years from now… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”