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Nazca Plate
The Nazca Plate is a large oceanic plate in the eastern Pacific that is rapidly subducting beneath the South American Plate at a rate of about 8 cm per year. This powerful convergence has built the Andes Mountains and fuels the intense volcanic and seismic activity along South America's western coast. The plate is relatively young, formed at the East Pacific Rise, and its ongoing subduction has created the Peru-Chile Trench, one of the deepest oceanic trenches on Earth.
Plate Information
Size: 15 million km²
Movement: Eastward
Speed: 8 cm/year
Countries: 0
Countries & Territories
This plate is entirely oceanic with no land masses.
Key Facts
- Subduction creates the Andes Mountains
- Causes volcanic and seismic activity in South America
- Moving eastward at about 8 cm per year
- Approximately 15 million km² in area