North American plate

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The North American Plate
Iceland: between the North American and Eurasian plates

The North American Plate is one of the largest lithospheric plates on earth. It extends under the entire North American continent and the seas surrounding it with the exception of the Pacific . It also includes Greenland , part of Iceland , the geographic North Pole and Eastern Siberia to the Tscherski Mountains . The lithospheric plate extends under the Atlantic Ocean to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge , and under the Arctic Ocean to the Gakkel Ridge .

The North American plate is bordered (clockwise) to the Eurasian Plate , the African Plate , the South American Plate , the Caribbean Plate , the Cocos , which Riveraplatte , the Pacific plate , the Juan de Fuca Plate and the Okhotsk plate .

Plate movement

The North American Plate is moving roughly in a south-westerly direction, moving away from the Eurasian Plate. The speed is about 2.3 cm per year.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ P. Bird: An updated digital model of plate boundaries. In: Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 4 (3), 1027, 2003. doi: 10.1029 / 2001GC000252, accessed December 29, 2017.
  2. ^ Charles DeMets, Richard G. Gordon, Donald F. Argus: Geologically current plate motions. In: Geophysical Journal International. Volume 181, Issue 1, April 1, 2010, pp. 1–80, doi: 10.1111 / j.1365-246X.2009.04491.x