Major tectonic plate containing Antarctica and the surrounding ocean floor
Antarctic Plate
Type
Major
Approximate area
60,900,000 km2 (23,500,000 sq mi)[1]
Movement1
South-west
Speed1
12–14 mm (0.47–0.55 in)/year
Features
Antarctica, Kerguelen Plateau, Southern Ocean
1Relative to the African Plate
The Antarctic Plate is a tectonic plate containing the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau, and some remote islands in the Southern Ocean and other surrounding oceans. After breakup from Gondwana (the southern part of the supercontinent Pangea), the Antarctic plate began moving the continent of Antarctica south to its present isolated location, causing the continent to develop a much colder climate.[2] The Antarctic Plate is bounded almost entirely by extensional mid-ocean ridge systems. The adjoining plates are the Nazca Plate, the South American Plate, the African Plate, the Somali Plate, the Indo-Australian Plate, the Pacific Plate, and, across a transform boundary, the Scotia Plate.
The Antarctic Plate has an area of about 60,900,000 km2 (23,500,000 sq mi).[3] It is Earth's fifth-largest tectonic plate.
The Antarctic Plate's movement is estimated to be at least 1 cm (0.4 in) per year towards the Atlantic Ocean.[4]
^"Sizes of Tectonic or Lithospheric Plates". Geology.about.com. March 5, 2014. Archived from the original on June 5, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
^Fitzgerald, Paul (2002). "Tectonics and landscape evolution of the Antarctic plate since the breakup of Gondwana, with an emphasis on the West Antarctic Rift System and the Transantarctic Mountains" (PDF). Royal Society of New Zealand Bulletin (35): 453–469. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
^Wohletz, K.H.; Brown, W.K. "SFT and the Earth's Tectonic Plates". Los Alamos National Laboratory. Archived from the original on February 17, 2013.
^Jiang, Wei-Ping; E, Dong-Chen; Zhan, Bi-Wei; Liu, You-Wen (2009). "New Model of Antarctic Plate Motion and Its Analysis". Chinese Journal of Geophysics. 52 (1): 23–32. doi:10.1002/cjg2.1323. ISSN 2326-0440.
The AntarcticPlate is a tectonic plate containing the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau, and some remote islands in the Southern Ocean and...
to the south by the AntarcticPlate through the East Pacific Rise and the Chile Rise respectively. The movement of the Nazca Plate over several hotspots...
a minor plate whose movement is largely controlled by the two major plates that surround it: the AntarcticPlate and the South American Plate. The Scotia...
Plate and Anatolian Plate to the north; and the AntarcticPlate to the south. Between 60 million years ago and 10 million years ago, the Somali Plate...
with the AntarcticPlate, the Scotia Plate, and the Sandwich Plate; the westerly edge is a convergent boundary with the subducting Nazca Plate; and the...
Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau, and other island territories located on the AntarcticPlate or south...
became a separate overseas territory. Four island territories on the AntarcticPlate located north of the 60° South circle of latitude are associated with...
boundary with the AntarcticPlate forming the Pacific–Antarctic Ridge. [citation needed] The western side is bounded by the Okhotsk Plate at the Kuril–Kamchatka...
Antarctica, situated on the Antarctic Plate, and south of the Antarctic Convergence. According to the terms of the Antarctic Treaty, claims to sovereignty over...
Australian Plate is bordered (clockwise) by the Eurasian Plate, the Philippine Plate, the Pacific Plate, the AntarcticPlate, the African Plate and the Indian...
the Gulf of Aden. The Indian Plate, Australian Plate, and AntarcticPlate all diverge from the Somali Plate forming the eastern Indian Ocean. The Somali-Indian...
Sandwich Plate or the Sandwich Plate is a small tectonic plate (microplate) bounded by the subducting South American Plate to the east, the AntarcticPlate to...
J.L.; Verwoerd, W.J., eds. (1990). Volcanoes of the AntarcticPlate and Southern Oceans. Antarctic Research Series 48. Vol. 48. Washington, D.C.: American...
formed as a result of subduction of the Nazca Plate and AntarcticPlate underneath the South American Plate. The belt is subdivided into four main volcanic...
and Cocos plates were formed by the fragmentation of the Farallon Plate. The Antarctic-Phoenix Ridge, a mid-oceanic ridge between the Antarctic and Phoenix...
The Shetland Plate, or South Shetland Plate, is a tectonic microplate located off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula that contains the South Shetland...
an oceanic plateau and large igneous province (LIP) located on the AntarcticPlate, in the southern Indian Ocean. It is about 3,000 km (1,900 mi) to the...
of the western rim of the South American Plate due to the subduction of the Nazca Plate and the AntarcticPlate. To the east, the Andes range is bounded...
targets AntarcticPlate – Major tectonic plate containing Antarctica and the surrounding ocean floor Arabian Plate – Minor tectonic plate Burma Plate – Minor...
coast of Chile. Here three tectonic plates meet: the South American Plate, the Nazca Plate and the AntarcticPlate. This triple junction is unusual in...
-61.500; 161.000 at which the historic Indo-Australian Plate, Pacific Plate, and AntarcticPlate collide and interact. The term Triple Junction is given...
(north to south) the North American Plate, the Rivera Plate, the Cocos Plate, the Nazca Plate, and the AntarcticPlate. It runs south from the Gulf of California...
The Bellingshausen Plate was an ancient tectonic plate that fused onto the AntarcticPlate. It is named after Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, the...
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