tectonic plates![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Immense portions of the lithosphere that slide over the asthenosphere; this shifting movement shapes the Earth’s topography.
Cocos Plate ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Plate along the coast of Mexico and Central America; it is sinking beneath the North American Plate and the Caribbean Plate.
North American Plate ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Together with the Pacific Plate, this plate creates the San Andreas Fault (750 mi), which extends from the Gulf of California to San Francisco.
Antarctic Plate ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
The largest plate; it is stationary.
Australian-Indian Plate ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Plate that is moving north 3 in per year; it forms the Red Sea by means of divergence from the African Plate.
Philippine Plate ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Plate that forms the Philippines archipelago by means of subduction with the Eurasian Plate.
Eurasian Plate ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Plate converging with the Australian-Indian Plate; it created the Himalayas.
African Plate ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Plate that, diverging from the South American Plate, forms an underwater mountain chain.
South American Plate ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Plate that forms the Andes cordillera by means of subduction with the Nazca Plate.
Scotia Plate ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Small plate under which the Antarctic Plate and part of the South American Plate are sliding.
Nazca Plate ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
One of the most rapidly shifting plates, moving 3 in per year.
Caribbean Plate ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Plate subducting under the American plates; the Caribbean Plate created the islands of the Lesser Antilles.
Pacific Plate ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
The only entirely oceanic plate, it is also among the most rapidly shifting plates (4 in per year).
convergent plate boundaries ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Plates that collide, triggering either subduction or folding, which results in the creation of mountains.
divergent plate boundaries ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Plates that are moving apart, causing magma to appear, which solidifies to generate a new crust.
subduction ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Phenomenon by which an oceanic plate slides under a continental plate or under another oceanic plate, resulting in a trench.