Everything about The African Plate totally explained
The
African Plate is a
tectonic plate which includes the
continent of
Africa, as well as oceanic crust which lies between the continent and various surrounding ocean ridges.
The westerly side is a
divergent boundary with the
North American Plate to the north and the
South American Plate to the south forming the central and southern part of the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The African plate is bounded on the northeast by the
Arabian Plate, the southeast by the
Indo-Australian Plate, the north by the
Eurasian Plate and the
Anatolian Plate, and on the south by the
Antarctic Plate. All of these are divergent or spreading boundaries with the exception of the northern boundary with the Eurasian Plate (except for a short segment near the
Azores, the
Terceira Rift).
The African Plate comprises several continental blocks or
cratons, stable continental blocks of old rocks, which came together to form the African continent during the assembly of the
supercontinent Gondwana around 550 million years ago. These cratons are, from south to north, the
Kalahari,
Congo,
Sahara and
West African craton. Each of these cratons can further be subdivided into even smaller blocks or
terranes, sutured along pre-Gondwanan
orogenic belts.
The African Plate is
rifting in the eastern interior along the
East African Rift. This rift zone separates the Nubian subplate to the west from the Somalian subplate to the east. One hypothesis proposes the existence of a
mantle plume beneath the Afar region, while an opposing hypothesis asserts that the rifting is merely a zone of maximum weakness where the African Plate is deforming as plates to its east are moving rapidly northward.
The African Plate's speed is estimated at around 2.15
centimeters per year. It has been moving over the past 100 million years or so in a general northeast direction. This is drawing it closer to the Eurasian Plate, causing subduction where oceanic crust is converging with continental crust (for example portions of the central and eastern Mediterranean). In the western Mediterranean, the relative motions of the Eurasian and African plates produce a combination of lateral and compressive forces, concentrated in a zone known as the
Azores-Gibraltar Fault Zone. Along its northeast margin, the African Plate is bounded by the
Red Sea Rift where the
Arabian Plate is moving away from the African Plate.
The
New England hotspot in the
Atlantic Ocean has probably created a short line of mid to late-
Tertiary age
seamounts on the African Plate but appears to be currently inactive.
Further Information
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