Australian plate
The Australian plate is one of the major continental plates (or tectonic plates) on earth. It comprises the Australian continent including New Guinea , the western part of Zealandia including the North Island and the northern part of the South Island of New Zealand in the Southwest Pacific and much of the ocean floor of the eastern Indian Ocean . The Australian plate is partially combined with the Indian plate , which carries the Indian subcontinent, to form the Indo-Australian plate .
The Australian Plate borders (clockwise) the Eurasian Plate , the Philippine Plate , the Pacific Plate , the Antarctic Plate , the African Plate and the Indian Plate . For the transition zones to the Eurasian, Philippine and Pacific plates, 10 additional, significantly smaller plates are postulated.