Malpelo plate adds plot twist to ancient tectonic tale
14th August, 2017Category:
A microplate discovered off the west coast of Ecuador adds another piece to Earth’s tectonic puzzle, according to Rice University scientists. Researchers led by Rice geophysicist Richard Gordon discovered the microplate, which they have named Malpelo while analyzing the junction of three other plates in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The Malpelo Plate, named for an island and an underwater ridge it contains, is the 57th plate to be discovered and the first in nearly a decade, they said. They are sure there are more to be found.
The Pacific lithospheric plate that roughly defines the volcanic Ring of Fire is one of about 10 major rigid tectonic plates that float and move atop Earth's mantle, which behaves like a fluid over geologic time. Interactions at the edges of the moving plates account for most earthquakes experienced on the planet. There are many small plates that fill the gaps between the big ones, and the Pacific Plate meets two of those smaller plates, the Cocos and Nazca, west of the Galapagos Islands.
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