From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Somali plate

Minor tectonic plate including the east coast of Africa and the adjoining seabed

Summary

Minor tectonic plate including the east coast of Africa and the adjoining seabed

Field	Value
image	File:SomaliPlate.png
type	Minor
area	16,700,000 km2
move_direction	south-east
move_speed	6 mm/year
geo_features	East Africa, Horn of Africa, Gulf of Aden, Socotra Archipelago, Madagascar, Indian Ocean
image_alt	The Somali plate

The Somali plate is a minor tectonic plate which straddles the Equator in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is currently in the process of separating from the African plate along the East African Rift Valley and moving to the Indian subcontinent. It is approximately centered on the island of Madagascar and includes about half of the east coast of Africa, from the Gulf of Aden in the north through the East African Rift Valley. The southern boundary with the Nubian–African plate is a diffuse plate boundary consisting of the Lwandle plate.

Geology

The Arabian plate diverges to the north forming the Gulf of Aden. The Indian plate, Australian plate, and Antarctic plate all diverge from the Somali plate forming the eastern Indian Ocean. The Somali-Indian boundary spreading ridge is known as the Carlsberg Ridge. The Somali-Australian boundary spreading ridge is known as the Central Indian Ridge. The Somali-Antarctic boundary spreading ridge is known as the Southwest Indian Ridge. The western boundary with the African plate is diverging to form the East African Rift, which stretches south from the triple junction in the Afar depression. The southern boundary with the Nubian–African plate is a diffuse plate boundary with the Lwandle plate. The Seychelles and the Mascarene Plateau are located northeast of the Madagascar.

Tectonic history

From the Kibaran orogeny fused the Tanzanian and Congo cratons. From 1000 to 600 Ma the super-continent Gondwana was formed and the Pan-African orogeny sutured the Tanzanian and Kalahari cratons. The rifting of the Red Sea started around and the first rifting occurred in the northern West African Rift System around .

References

Alden, Andrew (2017-03-17) [https://www.thoughtco.com/sizes-of-tectonic-or-lithospheric-plates-4090143 Here Are the Sizes of Tectonic or Lithospheric Plates]. thoughtco.com
(20 March 2014). "Present-day Kinematics of the East African Rift". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.
(2004). "Continents and supercontinents". Oxford University Press.
(2008). "Gondwana to Asia: Plate tectonics, paleogeography and the biological connectivity of the Indian sub-continent from the Middle Jurassic through latest Eocene (166–35 Ma)". Earth-Science Reviews.
(1995). "Ages and geological significance of the igneous rocks from Seychelles". Journal of African Earth Sciences.
Chorowicz, Jean. (October 2005). "The East African rift system". [[Journal of African Earth Sciences]].

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

tectonic-plates geology-of-africa geology-of-the-indian-ocean geology-of-somalia

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Somali plate — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report