The ground under us moves.
A big piece of land moves slow. It carries much of Africa. It also carries parts of the sea. This moving land helps shape our world. Can you feel the earth move?
A giant piece of land moves slowly.
This piece carries most of Africa. It also carries parts of the sea. In the east, the land is pulling apart.
This pull makes a big crack in the ground. This crack is called a rift. The land moves toward the northeast. It is slowly pushing into other pieces of land. This movement can change the shape of the sea. The big piece of land is always on the move.
The African plate is a giant piece of Earth's crust.
It carries most of the continent of Africa. It also carries parts of the ocean. Some people call it the Nubian plate. This name helps tell it apart from the whole continent.
This plate is made of several cratons. Cratons are very old, stable blocks of crust. These blocks came together long ago. They helped form the continent of Africa.
The plate is always moving. It moves toward the northeast. It moves at a speed of 32.51 km per million years.
In the east, the plate is splitting. This is called rifting. A large crack called the East African Rift is forming. This rift separates the African plate from the Somali plate.
To the north, the plate pushes against the Eurasian plate. This can cause subduction. Subduction is when one piece of crust sinks under another. This happens in the Mediterranean Sea.
In the west, the plate moves away from other plates. This happens at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This ridge is a place where plates spread apart.
The African plate is a huge piece of the Earth's outer shell.
It carries most of the continent of Africa. It also carries ocean floor to the west and south. A small strip of land in Western Asia is part of it too. This includes parts of Lebanon and Palestine. Some scientists call it the Nubian plate. This name helps them talk about the plate instead of the whole continent.
This giant plate works by moving very slowly. It moves toward the northeast. It travels at a speed of 32.51 km per million years.
In the east, the plate is pulling apart. This is called rifting. A crack called the East African Rift is growing there. This rift will eventually separate the African plate from the Somali plate. Some think a plume of heat from deep inside the Earth causes this.
Long ago, many different pieces joined to make this plate. These pieces are called cratons. Cratons are very old and stable blocks of crust.
The Kalahari, Congo, Tanzania, and West African cratons are all part of it. These blocks came together about 250 million years ago. This happened when a supercontinent called Pangea formed. Later, they stayed together even when the land called Gondwana split up.
Many different plates touch the edges of the African plate. To the west, it meets the North and South American plates. This happens at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. To the south, it meets the Antarctic plate.
In the north, it touches the Eurasian plate. It also meets the Aegean Sea and Anatolian plates. Near the Red Sea, the Arabian plate is moving away from it.
Moving plates can change the shape of the world. In the north, the African plate pushes against the Eurasian plate. This causes subduction. Subduction is when one piece of crust sinks under another.
This happens in the Mediterranean Sea. In the Adriatic Sea, the land is actually getting narrower. The Eurasian plate pushes the land toward the east. This shows how the Earth is always changing shape.
The African plate is a massive tectonic plate that makes up much of the Earth's outer shell.
It carries most of the African continent, though it excludes the easternmost part. The plate also includes oceanic crust to the west and south. A narrow strip of Western Asia is also part of this plate. This includes parts of Lebanon and Palestine. Because the continent itself includes parts of two different plates, scientists sometimes call this the Nubian plate. This specific name helps researchers distinguish the plate from the entire continent of Africa.
The plate is composed of several different types of crustal structures. It contains several cratons, which are very old and stable blocks of crust. These cratons have deep roots in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle. From south to north, these include the Kalahari, Congo, Tanzania, and West African cratons. These blocks were once widely separated. They came together during the Pan-African orogeny, a period of mountain building. They remained together even when the supercontinent Gondwana split apart.
These stable cratons are connected by orogenic belts. These are regions where the rock has been highly deformed by tectonic activity. The plate also contains less stable terranes. These are pieces of crust that joined together to form Africa during the assembly of Pangea. This assembly happened about 250 million years ago. Some areas have sedimentary basins, like the Congo Basin. In these basins, recent Neoproterozoic sediments cover the older, archaic crust. The plate also features shear zones like the Central African Shear Zone. In this zone, two sections of the crust once moved in opposite directions.
The boundaries of the African plate involve many different types of movement. To the west, the plate meets the North American and South American plates. This boundary is a divergent boundary, meaning the plates move apart. This happens at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. To the south, the plate meets the Antarctic plate at the Southwest Indian Ridge. To the northeast, it meets the Arabian plate. The Red Sea Rift marks where the Arabian plate moves away from the African plate.
Other boundaries in the north are more complex. The African plate meets the Eurasian, Aegean Sea, and Anatolian plates. Most of these are divergent or spreading boundaries. However, the northern boundary is different. There is also a short segment near the Azores known as the Terceira Rift. In the western Mediterranean, the motion between the African and Eurasian plates creates lateral and compressive forces. These forces are concentrated in the Azores–Gibraltar Fault Zone. In the Adriatic Sea, the Eurasian plate pushes the land eastward. This causes the Adriatic basin to narrow by about 40 mm per year.
One of the most active processes is rifting in the eastern interior. This is known as the East African Rift. This rift zone is separating the African plate from the Somali plate.
Scientists have different ideas about why this is happening. One hypothesis suggests a mantle plume is rising beneath the Afar region. This plume would push the crust outward. Another hypothesis suggests the rifting is caused by crustal dynamics. It may be a break along a line of weakness as plates to the east move north rapidly.
We can measure the movement of the African plate quite precisely. It moves over the Earth's surface at a speed of 32.51 km per million years. For about 100 million years, it has generally moved in a northeast direction. This movement causes the plate to push closer to the Eurasian plate. This results in subduction in the central and eastern Mediterranean. Subduction occurs when oceanic crust converges with continental crust and sinks.
This constant movement shows how the Earth's surface is always being reshaped by tectonic forces.
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