Malpelo Plate

Coordinates: 03°14′N 81°14′W / 3.233°N 81.233°W / 3.233; -81.233
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Malpelo Plate
The Malpelo Plate
Malpelo Plate in purple, Coiba Plate in dark red
PTF in red, CTF in green
TypeMicro
Coordinates03°14′N 81°14′W / 3.233°N 81.233°W / 3.233; -81.233
Movement1East
FeaturesBordering:
Coiba Plate (north)
North Andes Plate (east)
Nazca Plate (south)
Cocos Plate (west)
Basins:
Chocó Offshore Basin
Colombian Deep Pacific Basin
1Relative to the African Plate

The Malpelo Plate is a small tectonic plate (microplate) located off the coasts west of Ecuador and Colombia. It is the 57th plate to be identified. It is named after Malpelo Island, the only emerged part of the plate. It is bounded on the west by the Cocos Plate, on the south by the Nazca Plate, on the east by the North Andes Plate, and on the north by the Coiba Plate, separated by the Coiba Transform Fault (CTF). This microplate was previously assumed to be part of the Nazca Plate. The Malpelo Plate borders three major faults of Pacific Colombia, the north to south striking Bahía Solano Fault in the north and the Naya-Micay and Remolino-El Charco Faults in the south.

Description

The Malpelo Plate was hypothesised in 2013 [1] and identified by a non-closure of the Nazca-Cocos-Pacific plate motion circuit, in a paper published in 2017.[2] The formation of the oceanic crust of the plate has been estimated to be since the Middle Miocene (14.7 Ma).[3]

The researchers used a

Galapagos Islands.[2]

Gallery

  • Former plate boundaries in the Pacific, offshore western South America
    Former plate boundaries in the Pacific, offshore western South America
  • Seismic activity map of Colombia
    Seismic activity map of Colombia
  • Map of Malpelo Island, namesake of the plate
    Map of Malpelo Island, namesake of the plate
  • Malpelo Island, the only emerged section of the plate
    Malpelo Island, the only emerged section of the plate

References

  1. ^ Herrera Cala, 2013, p.69
  2. ^ a b Zhang et al., 2017
  3. ^ Meschede & Barckhausen, 2000, p.4

Bibliography

Further reading

External links