South Sandwich Plate
The South Sandwich Plate or Sandwich Plate is a minor tectonic plate bounded by the subducting South American Plate to the east, the Antarctic Plate to the south and the Scotia Plate to the west. The plate is separated from the Scotia Plate by the East Scotia Rise, a back arc spreading ridge formed by the subduction zone on its eastern margin. The South Sandwich Islands are located on this small plate.
| South Sandwich Plate | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Minor |
| Approximate area | 170,000 km2[1] |
| Movement1 | east |
| Speed1 | 47mm/year |
| Features | South Sandwich Islands, Southern Ocean |
| 1Relative to the African Plate | |
Map of South Sandwich Plate (SAN) shows its position between the Scotia Plate (SCO), South American Plate (SAM) and the Antarctic Plate (ANT). There are also visible The East Scotia Ridge (ESR), South Sandwich Islands (SSI) and the South Sandwich Trench (SST).
References
- "Sizes of Tectonic or Lithospheric Plates". 2014-03-05. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
- The South Sandwich Microplate
- Kurt Stüwe: Geodynamics of the Lithosphere: An Introduction Springer; 2nd edition (2007) p390 ISBN 978-3-540-71236-7
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