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The North American plate is a tectonic plate containing most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and the Azores.With an area of 76 million km 2 (29 million sq mi), it is the Earth's second largest tectonic plate, behind the Pacific plate (which borders the plate to the west).
(Click to zoom) See legend below This is the legend for the North American geological map above. Geologic map of North America. The geology of North America is a subject of regional geology and covers the North American continent, the third-largest in the world. Geologic units and processes are investigated on a large scale to reach a ...
North American plate – Large tectonic plate including most of North America, Greenland and part of Siberia – 75,900,000 km 2 (29,300,000 sq mi) Pacific plate – Oceanic tectonic plate under the Pacific Ocean – 103,300,000 km 2 (39,900,000 sq mi)
Northward propagation of the East Pacific Rise into the North American plate initiates rifting off of the Baja California peninsula. 4 Ma Pliocene Sierra Nevada begins to rise. 3.5 Ma Pliocene The Pacific plate changes its direction of motion about 11 degrees east of its previous heading, from northwest to the present northwest by north.
Plate tectonics (from Latin tectonicus, from Ancient Greek τεκτονικός (tektonikós) 'pertaining to building') is the scientific theory that Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago.
The Queen Charlotte triple junction is a geologic triple junction where three tectonic plates meet: the Pacific plate, the North American plate, and the Explorer plate. The three plate boundaries which intersect here are the Queen Charlotte Fault, the northern Cascadia subduction zone, and the Explorer Ridge.
Silfra fissure The Mid-Atlantic Ridge passing through Þingvellir Rocks and boulders that have piled up in the fissure due to earthquakes.. Silfra (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈsɪl(v)ra]) is a rift formed in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge – the divergent tectonic boundary between the North American and Eurasian plates – and is located in the Þingvallavatn Lake in the Þingvellir National Park in ...
The oceanic Nazca plate subducts beneath the continental South American plate at the Peru–Chile Trench. Just north of the Nazca plate, the oceanic Cocos plate subducts under the Caribbean plate and forms the Middle America Trench. Oceanic crust of the South American plate subducts under the Caribbean plate in the Lesser Antilles subduction zone.