- South American Plate
The South American Plate is a
tectonic plate covering thecontinent ofSouth America and extending eastward to theMid-Atlantic Ridge .The easterly side is a
divergent boundary with theAfrican Plate forming the southern part of theMid-Atlantic Ridge . The southerly side is a complex boundary with theAntarctic Plate and theScotia Plate . The westerly side is aconvergent boundary with the subductingNazca Plate . The northerly side is a boundary with theCaribbean Plate . At theChile Triple Junction in Taitato-Tres Montes Peninsula the ocenic ridge ofChile Rise is subducting under the South American andThe remains of the
Farallon Plate , split into the currentCocos Plate andNazca Plate are still subducting under the western edge of the South American Plate. This subduction is responsible for lifting the massiveAndes Mountains and causing the volcanos which are strewn throughout them. There is some speculation that in addition to subducting the Cocos and Nazca Plates, the westward motion of the South American Plate may have forced the Caribbean and Scotia Plates at its northern and southern ends respectively to squeeze around it. Both share a similar shape and are being subducted along their eastern boundary. They are thought to be ancient volcanic regions formed on the Farallon Plate, with their crust too thick to be subducted under the South American Plate.There is evidence that South American plate continues to move northwards at a very slow rate. [http://www.geophysics.rice.edu/department/research/alan1/SECAR/Plate_Tectonic_Evolution_.htm]
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