The Pacific Plate is located in the Pacific Ocean and is mainly composed of oceanic crust. Its eastern boundary is the San Andreas transform fault, which separates it from the North American Plate. Its western boundary is the Mariana Trench, which separates it from the Philippine Sea Plate. Extension at the mid-ocean ridge in the Pacific Ocean is on-going and associated with extensive neutral-basic volcanic eruptions. Studies of the magnetic stripes on the oceanic crust and abundant seismic data indicate that the Pacific Plate is still expanding and subsiding towards the eastern and western margins, creating the most active volcanic and seismic belt in the world.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this entry
Cite this entry
(2020). Pacific Plate. In: Chen, A., Ng, Y., Zhang, E., Tian, M. (eds) Dictionary of Geotourism. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2538-0_1808
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2538-0_1808
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-2537-3
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-2538-0
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences