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Balmoral Reef Plate
The Balmoral Reef Plate is one of the smallest tectonic plates on Earth, a tiny sliver of oceanic crust in the southwestern Pacific. Despite its diminutive size, it demonstrates that plate tectonics operates at all scales. The microplate is bounded by transform faults and spreading centers, part of the intricate plate boundary network between the Australian and Pacific plates.
Plate Information
Size: 0.01 million km²
Movement: Northeast
Speed: 3 cm/year
Countries: 0
Countries & Territories
This plate is entirely oceanic with no land masses.
Key Facts
- One of the smallest tectonic plates
- Entirely oceanic
- Located in the southwestern Pacific
- Part of a complex plate boundary zone