African plate
Major tectonic plate comprising most of Africa and adjacent oceanic crust.
Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons
The African plate, sometimes called the Nubian plate, is one of Earth's major tectonic plates. It carries most of the African continent, leaving out only the far eastern part, along with the ocean floor to its west and south. A thin slice of Western Asia along the Mediterranean coast—covering much of Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon—also sits on this plate. Its neighbors are the North American and South American plates to the west, separated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge; the Arabian and Somali plates to the east; the Eurasian, Aegean Sea, and Anatolian plates to the north; and the Antarctic plate to the south.
The Somali plate began pulling away from the African plate along the East African Rift sometime between 60 million and 10 million years ago. Because the African continent is made up of crust from both the African and Somali plates, some researchers use the name "Nubian plate" for the western plate to avoid confusion with the continent as a whole.
**Boundaries** On its western side, the African plate has a divergent boundary with the North American plate in the north and the South American plate in the south, forming the central and southern sections of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. To the northeast lies the Arabian plate, to the southeast the Somali plate, to the north the Eurasian, Aegean Sea, and Anatolian plates, and to the south the Antarctic plate at the Southwest Indian Ridge. Most of these boundaries are divergent or spreading, except for the northern boundary and a short stretch near the Azores called the Terceira Rift.
**Components** The African plate contains several cratons—stable blocks of ancient crust with deep roots in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle—along with less stable terranes. These pieces came together to form the African continent during the assembly of the supercontinent Pangea roughly 250 million years ago. From south to north, the cratons are the Kalahari, Congo, Tanzania, and West African cratons. They were once far apart but joined during the Pan-African orogeny and stayed together after Gondwana broke up. Orogenic belts, regions of heavily deformed rock where plates once collided, connect these cratons. The Saharan Metacraton is thought to be either the remains of a craton that detached from the lithospheric mantle or a collection of unrelated crustal fragments swept together during the Pan-African orogeny. In some place
- type
- Tectonic plate
- area_covered
- Most of Africa (except easternmost part), adjacent oceanic crust to west and south, and a narrow strip of Western Asia
- speed
- 2.15 cm (0.85 in) per year
- direction
- General northeast direction over the past 100 million years
- boundaries
- Divergent with North American, South American, Arabian, Somali, and Antarctic plates; convergent with Eurasian, Aegean Sea, and Anatolian plates
- key_feature
- Rifting along the East African Rift, separating from the Somali plate
Lore & Background
Between 60 million years ago and 10 million years ago, the Somali plate began rifting from the African plate along the East African Rift. Since the continent of Africa consists of crust from both the African and the Somali plates, some literature refers to the African plate as the Nubian plate to distinguish it from the continent as a whole. The African plate includes several cratons—stable blocks of old crust with deep roots in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle—and less stable terranes, which came together to form the African continent during the assembly of the supercontinent Pangea around 250 million years ago. The cratons are from south to north: the Kalahari Craton, Congo Craton, Tanzania Craton and West African Craton. The cratons were widely separated in the past, but came together during the Pan-African orogeny and stayed together when Gondwana split up. The cratons are connected by orogenic belts, regions of highly deformed rock where the tectonic plates have engaged. The Saharan Metacraton has been tentatively identified as the remains of a craton that has become detached from the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, but alternatively may consist of a collection of unrelated crustal fragments swept together during the Pan-African orogeny.
Reader's Guide
The African plate is significant as a major tectonic plate that forms the foundation of most of the African continent and adjacent oceanic regions. Its boundaries are predominantly divergent, including the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to the west and the Southwest Indian Ridge to the south, but its northern boundary with the Eurasian plate is convergent, leading to subduction and compression in the Mediterranean region. The ongoing rifting along the East African Rift is actively splitting the plate, separating the African plate from the Somali plate to the east. This rifting is hypothesized to result either from a mantle plume beneath the Afar region or from crustal dynamics as plates to the east move rapidly northward. The plate's northeastward movement over the past 100 million years has brought it closer to the Eurasian plate, causing subduction where oceanic crust converges with continental crust, particularly in the central and eastern Mediterranean. In the western Mediterranean, relative motions produce a combination of lateral and compressive forces along the Azores–Gibraltar Fault Zone. The plate also includes several ancient cratons and sedimentary basins, such as the Tindouf Basin, Taoudeni Basin, and Congo Basin, which record geological history from the Neoproterozoic. The New England hotspot has probably created a short line of mid- to late-Tertiary age seamounts on the African plate but appears to be currently inactive.
Did You Know?
- The African plate is also known as the Nubian plate to distinguish it from the continent of Africa, which includes crust from both the African and Somali plates.
- The western edge of the African plate forms the central and southern part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
- The African plate includes several cratons: the Kalahari, Congo, Tanzania, and West African Cratons.
- The African plate's speed is estimated at 2.15 cm (0.85 in) per year, moving in a general northeast direction.
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