Shetland Plate

The Shetland Plate is a small microplate in the Bransfield Strait between the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. It is forming in an active back-arc basin where extension behind the South Shetland Trench is creating new oceanic crust. The strait hosts active submarine volcanoes and hydrothermal vents in one of Earth's most extreme environments - the icy waters of Antarctica.