Pacific Plate
The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At 103 million km2 (40 million sq mi), it is the largest tectonic plate.
| Pacific Plate | |
|---|---|
| Type | Major |
| Approximate area | 103,300,000 km2 (39,900,000 sq mi) |
| Movement1 | north-west |
| Speed1 | 56–102 mm (2.2–4.0 in)/year |
| Features | Baja California Peninsula, Southern California, Hawaiian Islands, New Zealand, Solomon Islands archipelago, Southeast Alaska, Pacific Ocean |
| 1Relative to the African Plate | |
The plate first came into existence as a microplate 190 million years ago, at the triple junction between the Farallon, Phoenix, and Izanagi Plates. The Pacific Plate subsequently grew to where it underlies most of the Pacific Ocean basin. This reduced the Farallon Plate to a few remnants along the west coast of North America and the Phoenix Plate to a small remnant near the Drake Passage, and destroyed the Izanagi Plate by subduction under Asia.
The Pacific Plate contains an interior hot spot forming the Hawaiian Islands.
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