Mainly oceanic tectonic microplate off the southeast coast of Africa
Lwandle and its neighboring plates are shown. This figure is simplified, modified from Stamps et al. 2008.
The Lwandle Plate is one of three tectonic microplates, along with the Rovuma Plate and Victoria Plate, that make up the African Plate with the Somali Plate and the Nubian Plate. Its discovery is very recent, so the velocity of the plate is neither well known nor well understood.[1] Many experiments are ongoing to quantify this.[2] The Lwandle Plate lies between 30°E and 50°E, sharing a boundary with the Nubian, Somali, and Antarctic Plates.[3]
The Lwandle Plate is largely oceanic, lying off the southeast coast of Africa. It is currently believed that the southern part of Madagascar forms part of the Lwandlean Plate, with one of the plate boundaries cutting through the island.[3][4][5]
^Saria, E (April 2014). "Present-day kinematics of the East African Rift". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 119 (4): 3584–3600. Bibcode:2014JGRB..119.3584S. doi:10.1002/2013JB010901.
^Stamps, Sarah; Rambolamanana, Gerard; Calais, Eric; Rajaonarison, Tahiry. "Geodetic Constraints of Rift Initiation Across the Somalia-Lwandle Plate Boundary in Madagascar". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ abDeMets, Charles; Gordon, Richard; Argus, Donald (2010). "Geologically current plate motions". Geophys. J. Int. 1–80 (1): 39. Bibcode:2010GeoJI.181....1D. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04491.x.
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^Cite error: The named reference Stamps was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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