Geologists generally agree that the following tectonic plates currently exist on Earth's surface with roughly definable boundaries. Tectonic plates are sometimes subdivided into three fairly arbitrary categories: major (orprimary) plates, minor (orsecondary) plates, and microplates (ortertiary plates).[1]
Map showing Earth's principal tectonic plates and their boundaries in detail
These plates comprise the bulk of the continents and the Pacific Ocean. For purposes of this list, a major plate is any plate with an area greater than 20 million km2 (7.7 million sq mi)
African Plate – Tectonic plate underlying Africa – 61,300,000 km2 (23,700,000 sq mi)
Antarctic Plate – Major tectonic plate containing Antarctica and the surrounding ocean floor – 60,900,000 km2 (23,500,000 sq mi)
Eurasian Plate – Tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia – 67,800,000 km2 (26,200,000 sq mi)
Indo-Australian Plate – Major tectonic plate formed by the fusion of the Indian and Australian plates (sometimes considered to be two separate tectonic plates) – 58,900,000 km2 (22,700,000 sq mi)
Australian Plate – Major tectonic plate separated from Indo-Australian Plate about 3 million years ago – 47,000,000 km2 (18,000,000 sq mi)
Indian Plate – Minor plate that separated from Gondwana – 11,900,000 km2 (4,600,000 sq mi)
North American Plate – Large tectonic plate including most of North America, Greenland and part of Siberia – 75,900,000 km2 (29,300,000 sq mi)
Pacific Plate – Oceanic tectonic plate under the Pacific Ocean – 103,300,000 km2 (39,900,000 sq mi)
South American Plate – Major tectonic plate which includes most of South America and a large part of the south Atlantic – 43,600,000 km2 (16,800,000 sq mi)
These smaller plates are often not shown on major plate maps, as the majority of them do not comprise significant land area. For purposes of this list, a minor plate is any plate with an area less than 20 million km2 (7.7 million sq mi) but greater than 1 million km2 (0.39 million sq mi).
Amurian Plate – A minor tectonic plate in eastern AsiaPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Arabian Plate – Minor tectonic plate – 5,000,000 km2 (1,900,000 sq mi)
Burma Plate – Minor tectonic plate in Southeast Asia – 1,100,000 km2 (420,000 sq mi)
Caribbean Plate – A mostly oceanic tectonic plate including part of Central America and the Caribbean Sea – 3,300,000 km2 (1,300,000 sq mi)
Caroline Plate – Minor oceanic tectonic plate north of New Guinea – 1,700,000 km2 (660,000 sq mi)
Cocos Plate – Young oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Central America – 2,900,000 km2 (1,100,000 sq mi)
Indian Plate – Minor plate that separated from Gondwana – 11,900,000 km2 (4,600,000 sq mi)
Nazca Plate – Oceanic tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin – 15,600,000 km2 (6,000,000 sq mi)[note 1]
New Hebrides Plate – Minor tectonic plate in the Pacific Ocean near Vanuatu – 1,100,000 km2 (420,000 sq mi)
Okhotsk Plate – Minor tectonic plate in AsiaPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Philippine Sea Plate – Oceanic tectonic plate to the east of the Philippines – 5,500,000 km2 (2,100,000 sq mi)
Scotia Plate – Minor oceanic tectonic plate between the Antarctic and South American plates – 1,600,000 km2 (620,000 sq mi)
Somali Plate – Minor tectonic plate including the east coast of Africa and the adjoining seabed – 16,700,000 km2 (6,400,000 sq mi)
Sunda Plate – Tectonic plate including Southeast Asia
Yangtze Plate – Small tectonic plate carrying the bulk of southern China
These plates are often grouped with an adjacent principal plate on a tectonic plate world map. For purposes of this list, a microplate is any plate with an area less than 1 million km2. Some models identify more minor plates within current orogens (events that lead to a large structural deformation of Earth's lithosphere) like the Apulian, Explorer, Gorda, and Philippine Mobile Belt plates.[2] The latest studies have shown that microplates are the basic elements of which the crust is composed and that the larger plates are composed of amalgamations of these, and a subdivision of ca. 1200 smaller plates has come forward.[3][4]
The new Global Tectonic Map with the subdivision of the Continents, Oceans and Mobile mountain belts in ca. 1200 smaller plates. Legend: Green: Terrane (microplate) boundaries in the Continental Blocks, Cyan: Terranes of the Oceanic Plates, Orange: terranes inside the Mobile Belts, Blue: Oceanic transform faults; Red: Fault zones in the Continental and Mountain belt domain; Purple: Main subduction zones and suture zones; Orange dots: volcanoes.
African Plate
Lwandle Plate – Mainly oceanic tectonic microplate off the southeast coast of Africa
Rovuma Plate – One of three tectonic microplates that contribute to the Nubian Plate and the Somali Plate
Rivera Plate – Small tectonic plate off the west coast of Mexico
Eurasian Plate
Adriatic Plate, also known as the Apulian Plate – A small tectonic plate in the Mediterranean
Aegean Sea Plate, also known as Hellenic Plate – A small tectonic plate in the eastern Mediterranean Sea
Anatolian Plate – Continental tectonic plate comprising most of the Anatolia (Asia Minor) peninsulaPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
In the history of Earth, many tectonic plates have come into existence and have over the intervening years either accreted onto other plates to form larger plates, rifted into smaller plates, or have been crushed by or subducted under other plates.
The following is a list of ancient cratons, microplates, plates, and terranes which no longer exist as separate plates. Cratons are the oldest and most stable parts of the continental lithosphere, and shields are exposed parts of them. Terranes are fragments of crustal material formed on one tectonic plate and accreted to crust lying on another plate, which may or may not have originated as independent microplates: a terrane may not contain the full thickness of the lithosphere.
Farallon Plate – Ancient oceanic plate that has mostly subducted under the North American Plate (split into the Cocos, Explorer, Juan de Fuca, Gorda Plates, Nazca Plate, and Rivera Plates)
Florida Plate – Overview of the geology of the U.S. state of Florida (United States)
^Hasterok, D., Halpin, J., Collins, A.S., Hand, M., Kreemer, C., Gard, M., and Glorie, S. (2022); New maps of global geological provinces and tectonic plates. Earth Science Reviews, 2022.
^van Dijk, J.P. (2023); The New Global Tectonic Map - Analyses and Implications. Terra Nova, 2023, 27 pp. doi:10.1111/TER.12662
^Niels Henriksen; A.K. Higgins; Feiko Kalsbeek; T. Christopher R. Pulvertaft (2000). "Greenland from Archaean to Quaternary"(PDF). Greenland Survey Bulletin. No. 185. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2008-12-07. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
Cordani, U.G.; Cardona, A.; Jiménez, D.M.; Dunyl, L.; Nutman, A.P. (2003). Geochronology of Proterozoic basement from the Colombian Andes: Tectonic history of remnants from a fragmented Grenville Belt. 10o Congreso Geológico Chileno. pp. 1–10.
