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The Pacific plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At 103 million km 2 (40 million sq mi), it is the largest tectonic plate. [2] 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 ...
The Pacific plate kept growing and lineations south of the Pacific Triangle indicate the Pacific–Phoenix ridge remained a simple N–S trending spreading system 156–120 Ma. Following the formation and break-up of the Ontong Java – Hikurangi – Manihiki large igneous province 120 Ma, however, the Phoenix plate broke into several smaller ...
The mechanisms of plate tectonics on icy moons, particularly Earth-like plate tectonics are not widely agreed upon or well understood. [112] Plate tectonics on Earth is hypothesized to be driven by “slab pull,” where the sinking of the more dense subducting plate provides the spreading force for mid-ocean ridges. [112] “
The oceanic Pacific plate subducts under the North American plate (composed of both continental and oceanic sections) forming the Aleutian Trench. The oceanic Pacific plate subducts beneath the continental Okhotsk microplate at the Japan Trench. The oceanic Philippine Sea plate subducts beneath the Eurasian plate at the Ryukyu Trench.
Plate motion is partly driven by the weight of cold, dense plates sinking into the mantle at oceanic trenches. [2] [3] This force and slab suction account for almost all of the force driving plate tectonics. The ridge push at rifts contributes only 5 to 10%. [4] Carlson et al. (1983) [5] in Lallemand et al. (2005) [6] defined the slab pull ...
Plate tectonics was a suitable explanation for seafloor spreading, and the acceptance of plate tectonics by the majority of geologists resulted in a major paradigm shift in geological thinking. It is estimated that along Earth's mid-ocean ridges every year 2.7 km 2 (1.0 sq mi) of new seafloor is formed by this process. [50]
Plate tectonics and the volume of mid-ocean ridges: the depth of the seafloor increases with distance to a ridge, as the oceanic lithosphere cools and thickens. The volume of ocean basins can be modeled using reconstructions of plate tectonics and using an age-depth relationship (see also Seafloor depth vs age).
Diagram of a mid-ocean ridge showing ridge push near the mid-ocean ridge and the lack of ridge push after 90 Ma. Ridge push is the result of gravitational forces acting on the young, raised oceanic lithosphere around mid-ocean ridges, causing it to slide down the similarly raised but weaker asthenosphere and push on lithospheric material farther from the ridges.