List of tectonic plates

[[File:Tectonic plates 2022.svg|upright=1.35|thumb|Map of Earth's 16 principal tectonic plates, showing plate boundary types:

Divergent:

Convergent:

Transform:

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This is a list of tectonic plates on Earth's surface. Tectonic plates are pieces of Earth's crust and uppermost mantle, together referred to as the lithosphere. The plates are around 100 km thick and consist of two principal types of material: oceanic crust (also called sima from silicon and magnesium) and continental crust (sial from silicon and aluminium). The composition of the two types of crust differs markedly, with mafic basaltic rocks dominating oceanic crust, while continental crust consists principally of lower-density felsic granitic rocks.

Current plates
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 (or primary) plates, minor (or secondary) plates, and microplates (or tertiary plates).

Major plates


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 e6km2


 * – 61,300,000 km2
 * – 60,900,000 km2
 * – 67,800,000 km2
 * (sometimes considered to be two separate tectonic plates) – 58,900,000 km2
 * – 47,000,000 km2
 * – 11,900,000 km2
 * – 75,900,000 km2
 * – 103,300,000 km2
 * – 43,600,000 km2

Minor plates
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 e6km2 but greater than 1 e6km2.


 * – 5,000,000 km2
 * – 1,100,000 km2
 * – 3,300,000 km2
 * – 1,700,000 km2
 * – 2,900,000 km2
 * – 11,900,000 km2
 * – 15,600,000 km2
 * – 1,100,000 km2
 * – 5,500,000 km2
 * – 1,600,000 km2
 * – 16,700,000 km2
 * – 1,600,000 km2
 * – 16,700,000 km2

Microplates
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. 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.




 * African Plate
 * Antarctic Plate
 * Australian Plate
 * Caribbean Plate
 * Cocos Plate
 * Eurasian Plate
 * – Small tectonic plate in south Iceland, between the Eurasian Plate and the North American Plate
 * – 250,000 km2
 * Nazca Plate
 * North American Plate
 * Pacific Plate
 * Philippine Sea Plate
 * Scotia Plate
 * Somali Plate
 * South American Plate
 * (mainly in Colombia, minor parts in Ecuador and Venezuela)
 * Caribbean Plate
 * Cocos Plate
 * Eurasian Plate
 * – Small tectonic plate in south Iceland, between the Eurasian Plate and the North American Plate
 * – 250,000 km2
 * Nazca Plate
 * North American Plate
 * Pacific Plate
 * Philippine Sea Plate
 * Scotia Plate
 * Somali Plate
 * South American Plate
 * (mainly in Colombia, minor parts in Ecuador and Venezuela)
 * – Small tectonic plate in south Iceland, between the Eurasian Plate and the North American Plate
 * – 250,000 km2
 * Nazca Plate
 * North American Plate
 * Pacific Plate
 * Philippine Sea Plate
 * Scotia Plate
 * Somali Plate
 * South American Plate
 * (mainly in Colombia, minor parts in Ecuador and Venezuela)
 * – 250,000 km2
 * Nazca Plate
 * North American Plate
 * Pacific Plate
 * Philippine Sea Plate
 * Scotia Plate
 * Somali Plate
 * South American Plate
 * (mainly in Colombia, minor parts in Ecuador and Venezuela)
 * Pacific Plate
 * Philippine Sea Plate
 * Scotia Plate
 * Somali Plate
 * South American Plate
 * (mainly in Colombia, minor parts in Ecuador and Venezuela)
 * Philippine Sea Plate
 * Scotia Plate
 * Somali Plate
 * South American Plate
 * (mainly in Colombia, minor parts in Ecuador and Venezuela)
 * Philippine Sea Plate
 * Scotia Plate
 * Somali Plate
 * South American Plate
 * (mainly in Colombia, minor parts in Ecuador and Venezuela)
 * Scotia Plate
 * Somali Plate
 * South American Plate
 * (mainly in Colombia, minor parts in Ecuador and Venezuela)
 * Somali Plate
 * South American Plate
 * (mainly in Colombia, minor parts in Ecuador and Venezuela)
 * (mainly in Colombia, minor parts in Ecuador and Venezuela)
 * (mainly in Colombia, minor parts in Ecuador and Venezuela)
 * (mainly in Colombia, minor parts in Ecuador and Venezuela)

Ancient tectonic plates
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.

African Plate

 * (Zambia)
 * (Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Sudan, and Zambia)
 * (South Africa)
 * (South Africa)
 * (Algeria)
 * (Zimbabwe)
 * (Tanzania)
 * (Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo)
 * Zaire Craton (Congo)
 * (Zimbabwe)
 * (Zimbabwe)

Eurasian Plate

 * (France, Germany, Spain and Portugal)
 * (Canada, Great Britain, and United States)
 * Belomorian Craton
 * Central Iberian Plate
 * (Anatolia, Iran, Afghanistan, Tibet, Indochina and Malaya)
 * East China Craton
 * and Eastern Kazakhstan
 * and the Junngar Basin in China
 * Moravo Silesian Plate
 * Ossa-Morena Plate
 * Proto-Alps Terrane
 * South Portuguese Plate
 * Tarim Craton
 * Teplá-Barrandian Terrane
 * Volgo-Uralian Craton
 * Yakutai Craton
 * Moravo Silesian Plate
 * Ossa-Morena Plate
 * Proto-Alps Terrane
 * South Portuguese Plate
 * Tarim Craton
 * Teplá-Barrandian Terrane
 * Volgo-Uralian Craton
 * Yakutai Craton
 * South Portuguese Plate
 * Tarim Craton
 * Teplá-Barrandian Terrane
 * Volgo-Uralian Craton
 * Yakutai Craton
 * Tarim Craton
 * Teplá-Barrandian Terrane
 * Volgo-Uralian Craton
 * Yakutai Craton
 * Volgo-Uralian Craton
 * Yakutai Craton

Indo-Australian Plate



 * Altjawarra Craton (Australia)
 * Aravalli Craton (India)
 * Bastar Craton (India)
 * Bhandara Craton (India)
 * Bundelkhand Craton (India)
 * Central Craton (Australia)
 * Curnamona Craton (Australia)
 * Singhbhum Craton (India)
 * . See Moa Plate and Lord Howe Rise
 * Singhbhum Craton (India)
 * . See Moa Plate and Lord Howe Rise
 * Singhbhum Craton (India)
 * . See Moa Plate and Lord Howe Rise
 * . See Moa Plate and Lord Howe Rise
 * . See Moa Plate and Lord Howe Rise
 * . See Moa Plate and Lord Howe Rise

North American Plate



 * (Canada, Great Britain, and United States)
 * (Canada)
 * (split into the Cocos, Explorer, Juan de Fuca, Gorda Plates, Nazca Plate, and Rivera Plates)
 * (United States)
 * (Canada)
 * (Canada and United States)
 * Mexican Plate
 * (Canada)
 * Newfoundland Plate
 * Nova Scotia Plate
 * (Canada)
 * Sask Craton (Canada)
 * (Canada)
 * (Canada)
 * (Canada)
 * (United States)
 * Sask Craton (Canada)
 * (Canada)
 * (Canada)
 * (Canada)
 * (United States)

South American Plate

 * (Brazil)
 * (Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela)
 * (Argentina and Uruguay)
 * (Brazil)
 * (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru)