African Plate

A Dictionary of Earth Sciences | 1999 | 700+ words | Copyright

African Plate One of the present-day major lithospheric plates, consisting of the continental mass of Africa surrounded, except to the north, by oceanic crust and oceanic ridges. To the north, a complex picture of collision and subduction zones and transform faults has been postulated for the boundary with the Eurasian Plate and various minor plates, e.g. the Aegean Plate. The northern part of the African Plate also contains remnants of the oceanic crust of Tethys. To the north-east the Red Sea is interpreted as an actively forming ocean, at the young stage of the Wilson cycle, while the E.African rifts, partially defining what is called by some the ‘Somali Plate’ to the east, may be at the embryonic stage of ocean development, or possibly a stillborn ocean.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "African Plate." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "African Plate." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-AfricanPlate.html

AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "African Plate." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-AfricanPlate.html

Learn more about citation styles