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The Australian plate then to the south starts subducting under the Pacific plate at a rate of 3.6 cm/year (1.4 in/year) at the Puysegur Trench, [6] which ends in the south as a long series of transform faults between the two plates called the Macquarie Ridge Complex, commencing with the McDougall Fault Zone and ending with the Macquarie Fault ...
Obduction zones occurs when the continental plate is pushed under the oceanic plate, but this is unusual as the relative densities of the tectonic plates favours subduction of the oceanic plate. This causes the oceanic plate to buckle and usually results in a new mid-ocean ridge forming and turning the obduction into subduction. [citation needed]
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 km 2 (22,700,000 sq mi) Australian plate – Major tectonic plate separated from Indo-Australian plate about 3 million years ago – 47,000,000 km 2 (18,000,000 sq mi)
The Pacific plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At 103 million km 2 (40 million sq mi), it is the largest tectonic plate. [2] The plate first came into existence as a microplate 190 million years ago, at the triple junction between the Farallon, Phoenix, and Izanagi plates. The Pacific plate subsequently grew ...
Map showing the Indo-Australian plate (IA) and other major plates The Indo-Australian plate, shown as its two subdivisions: the Indian plate (red) and the Australian plate (orange) The Indo-Australian plate is or was a major tectonic plate. It is in the process of separation into three plates, and may be currently separated into more than one ...
The Macquarie triple junction is a geologically active tectonic boundary located at 3] at which the historic Indo-Australian plate, Pacific plate, and Antarctic plate collide and interact The term triple junction is given to particular tectonic boundaries at which three separate tectonic plates meet at a specific, singular location.
Tectonic lithosphere plates consist of lithospheric mantle overlain by one or two types of crustal material: oceanic crust (in older texts called sima from silicon and magnesium) and continental crust (sial from silicon and aluminium). The distinction between oceanic crust and continental crust is based on their modes of formation.
The complex biogeography of the Indo-Australian Archipelago is a result of its location at the merging point of four major tectonic plates and other semi-isolated microplates in combination with ancient sea levels. Those caused the isolation of different taxonomic groups on islands at present relatively close to each other. Wallace's Line is ...