Pacific plate
Topic: Continental Drift, Sea-floor Spreading and Plate Tectonics · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 4 "Distribution of Oceans and Continents"
Meaning
The Pacific plate is the largest tectonic plate on earth. It is one of the seven major plates. It lies under most of the Pacific Ocean and is almost entirely ocean crust, so it is called an oceanic plate. Its edges are lined with subduction zones, where one plate sinks under another. These zones form the "Ring of Fire", a belt of volcanoes and deep earthquakes around the Pacific. Its long sinking edges help explain why it is one of the fastest-moving plates.
Example
The Hawaiian Islands sit in the middle of the Pacific plate. As the plate moved over a nearly fixed hotspot, it left the Hawaii-Emperor chain of volcanoes, which get older away from Hawaii. On its eastern side, the plate slides past the North American plate along the San Andreas Fault in California.
Don't confuse with
- Panthalassa: the single huge ocean around Pangaea, of which the Pacific Ocean is thought to be the remnant. Panthalassa is an ocean. The Pacific plate is a slab of lithosphere.