Okinawa Plate

The Okinawa Plate is forming in a back-arc basin behind the Ryukyu island arc, where the Philippine Sea Plate subducts beneath the Eurasian Plate. Active seafloor spreading in the Okinawa Trough is creating new oceanic crust, making this one of the few places where we can observe the birth of a new ocean basin. Hydrothermal vents in the trough support unique chemosynthetic ecosystems.