South American Plate

Major tectonic plate which includes most of South America and a large part of the south Atlantic

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South American Plate

Type| Major
Approximate area| 43,600,000 km2 (16,800,000 sq mi)[1]
Movement1| West
Speed1| 27–34 mm (1.1–1.3 in)/year
Features| South America, Atlantic Ocean
1Relative to the African Plate

The South American Plate is a major tectonic plate which includes the continent of South America as well as a sizable region of the Atlantic Ocean seabed extending eastward to the African Plate, with which it forms the southern part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

The easterly edge is a divergent boundary with the African Plate; the southerly edge is a complex boundary with the Antarctic Plate, the Scotia Plate, and the Sandwich Plate; the westerly edge is a convergent boundary with the subducting Nazca Plate; and the northerly edge is a boundary with the Caribbean Plate and the oceanic crust of the North American Plate. At the Chile Triple Junction, near the west coast of the Taitao–Tres Montes Peninsula, an oceanic ridge known as the Chile Rise is actively subducting under the South American Plate.

Geological research suggests that the South American Plate is moving west away from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: "Parts of the plate boundaries consisting of alternations of relatively short transform fault and spreading ridge segments are represented by a boundary following the general trend."[2] As a result, the eastward-moving and more dense Nazca Plate is subducting under the western edge of the South American Plate, along the continent's Pacific coast, at a rate of 77 mm (3.0 in) per year.[3] The collision of these two plates is responsible for lifting the massive Andes Mountains and for creating the numerous volcanoes (including both stratovolcanoes and shield volcanoes) that are strewn throughout the Andes.[4][5]

## See also

[edit]

* Fifteen-Twenty Fracture Zone

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Here are the Sizes of Tectonic or Lithospheric Plates". about.com. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
2. ^ Meijer, P.T.; Wortel, M.J.R. (July 30, 1992). "The Dynamics of Motion of the South American Plate". Journal of Geophysical Research. 97 (B8): 11915. Bibcode:1992JGR....9711915M. doi:10.1029/91jb01123.
3. ^ Pisco, Peru, Earthquake of August 15, 2007: Lifeline Performance. Reston, VA: ASCE, Technical Council on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering. 2010. ISBN 9780784410615. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012.
4. ^ "Convergent Plate Boundaries - Oceanic/Continental: The Andes". The Geological Society. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
5. ^ Penvenne, Laura Jean (27 January 1996). "South America buckles under the pressure". New Scientist. Retrieved 2 July 2018.

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Tectonic plates

Major plates|

* African
* Antarctic
* Eurasian
* Indo-Australian
* Australian
* Indian
* North American
* Pacific
* South American

Minor plates|

* Amurian
* Arabian
* Burma
* Caribbean
* Caroline
* Cocos
* Indian
* Nazca
* New Hebrides
* Okhotsk
* Philippine
* Scotia
* Somali
* Sunda
* Yangtze

Microplates|

* Adriatic
* Aegean Sea
* Anatolian
* Balmoral Reef
* Banda Sea
* Bird's Head
* Capricorn
* Coiba
* Conway Reef
* Easter
* Explorer
* Futuna
* Galápagos
* Gonâve
* Gorda
* Greenland
* Halmahera
* Iberian
* Iranian
* Juan de Fuca
* Juan Fernández
* Kerguelen
* Kermadec
* Lwandle
* Madagascar
* Malpelo
* Manus
* Maoke
* Mariana
* Molucca Sea
* Niuafo’ou
* North Andes
* North Bismarck
* North Galápagos
* Okinawa
* Panama
* Pelso
* Philippine Mobile Belt
* Rivera
* Rovuma
* Sangihe
* Seychelles
* Shetland
* Solomon Sea
* South Bismarck
* South Sandwich
* Timor
* Tisza
* Tonga
* Trobriand
* Victoria
* Woodlark

Ancient plates|

* Baltic
* Bellingshausen
* Charcot
* Cimmeria
* Farallon
* Insular
* Intermontane
* Izanagi
* Kula
* Lhasa
* Malvinas
* Moa
* Phoenix
* Kshiroda

Oceanic ridges|

* Aden Ridge
* Carlsberg Ridge
* Central Indian Ridge
* Chile Ridge
* Cocos Ridge
* East Pacific Rise
* Explorer Ridge
* Gakkel Ridge
* Galápagos Spreading Center
* Gorda Ridge
* Juan de Fuca Ridge
* Mid-Atlantic Ridge
* Knipovich Ridge
* Kolbeinsey Ridge
* Mohns Ridge
* Reykjanes Ridge
* Pacific-Antarctic Ridge
* South American–Antarctic Ridge
* Southeast Indian Ridge
* Southwest Indian Ridge

Ancient oceanic ridges|

* Aegir Ridge
* Alpha Ridge
* Kula-Farallon Ridge
* Mid-Labrador Ridge
* Pacific-Farallon Ridge
* Pacific-Kula Ridge
* Phoenix Ridge

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Tectonics of South America

Tectonic plates|

* Altiplano?
* Caribbean
* Coiba
* Falkland
* Juan Fernández
* Malpelo
* North Andes
* North Galápagos
* Scotia
* South American
* Panama

Faults and rift zones|

* Atacama
* Boconó
* Bucaramanga-Santa Marta
* Cochabamba
* Eastern Frontal
* Gastre
* Liquiñe-Ofqui
* Magallanes-Fagnano
* Oca-Ancón
* Pichilemu
* Romeral
* San Ramón

Subduction|

* Peru–Chile Trench
* Chile Triple Junction

| Subducted structures|

* Nazca Plate
* Antarctic Plate
* Carnegie Ridge
* Nazca Ridge
* Juan Fernández Ridge
* Chile Rise

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Subduction products|

* Andean orogeny
* Andean Volcanic Belt

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Tectonism in Colombia

Tectonic plates|

* Caribbean Plate
* Coiba Plate
* Malpelo Plate
* North Andes Plate
* Panama Plate
* South American Plate

Terranes|

* Chibcha
* Tahamí
* Caribe
* La Guajira
* Arquía
* Quebradagrande
* Anacona
* Amazonian Craton
* Río Negro-Juruena

Terrane-bounding
fault systems|

* Bagre Norte
* Bucaramanga-Santa Marta (BSF)
* Cimitarra
* Cucuana
* Eastern Frontal (EFS)
* Afiladores
* Algeciras
* Garzón-Pitalito
* Guaicáramo
* Guayuriba
* Mocoa
* San Pedro-Cumaral
* Servitá-Santa María
* Sibundoy
* Suazá
* Yopal
* Boconó
* Mulato-Getudo
* Oca
* Otú Norte
* Palestina
* Romeral (RFS)
* Armenia
* Buesaco-Aranda
* Córdoba-Navarco
* Montenegro
* Paraíso
* Piendamó
* Rosas-Julumito

Intraterrane
faults|

| Chibcha|

* Bituima-La Salina
* Bogotá
* Caño Tomás
* Chitagá-Pamplona
* La Dina
* Honda
* Ibagué
* Irlanda
* La Macarena
* La Plata
* Suárez
* Tarra
* Usme
* Vianí

|

Tahamí|

* Espiritú Santo
* Uramita

Caribe|

* Abriaquí
* Argelia
* Bagre Norte
* Bahía Solano
* Cañasgordas
* Cauca
* Garrapatas
* Murindó
* Murrí
* Mutatá
* Montería
* Naya-Micay
* Piedrancha
* Remolino-El Charco
* Santa Rita
* El Tambor
* Toro
* Tucurá
* Unguía
* Urrao

La Guajira|

* Cuisa

Other terranes|

* Meta
* Dagua-Calima
* Guáitara
* Morronegro-Las Mercedes

Major
earthquakes|

* 1646
* 1743
* 1785
* 1827
* 1834
* 1868
* 1875
* 1906
* 1917
* 1936
* 1958
* 1962
* 1967
* 1970 (1)
* 1970 (2)
* 1979 (1)
* 1979 (2)
* 1983
* 1987
* 1991
* 1992
* 1994
* 1995 (1)
* 1995 (2)
* 1996
* 1999
* 2004
* 2007
* 2008
* 2012
* 2013 (2)
* 2015
* 2016 (1)
* 2016 (2)

Orogenies|

* Andean
* Famatinian
* Sunsás
* Rondônia-Juruá
* Tapajós
* Transamazonian
* Carajas-Imataca

Other topics|

* Bucaramanga Nest
* Vichada Structure

Sources|

Paris, Gabriel; Machette, Michael N.; Dart, Richard L.; Haller, Kathleen M. (2000). Map and Database of Quaternary Faults and Folds in Colombia and its Offshore Regions (PDF). USGS. pp. 1–66. Retrieved 2017-06-20.

Gómez Tapias, Jorge; Montes Ramírez, Nohora E.; Almanza Meléndez, María F.; Alcárcel Gutiérrez, Fernando A.; Madrid Montoya, César A.; Diederix, Hans (2015). Geological Map of Colombia. Servicio Geológico Colombiano. pp. 1–212. Retrieved 2019-10-29.

Various authors (2014). Enciclopedia de desastres naturales históricos de Colombia (PDF). Universidad del Quindío. pp. 1–21. Retrieved 2017-06-20.

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