African Plate

E17078

major tectonic plate tectonic plate

The African Plate is a major tectonic plate that underlies the continent of Africa and adjacent oceanic crust, playing a key role in continental drift, seismic activity, and the formation of geological features such as rift valleys and mountain ranges.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

All labels observed (8)

Label	Occurrences
African Plate canonical	71
Nubian Plate	5
Africa Plate	4
African tectonic plate	2
African Plate and Antarctic Plate	1
African Plate and Indian Plate	1
African Plate margin	1
Nubian Plate (main portion)	1

Statements (53)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	major tectonic plate ⓘ tectonic plate ⓘ
associatedWith	Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt ⓘ surface form: Alps–Apennines collision zone Atlas Mountains ⓘ East African Rift ⓘ surface form: East African Rift System Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ surface form: Iceland hotspot via Mid-Atlantic Ridge Mediterranean subduction zones ⓘ
boundedBy	Antarctic Plate ⓘ Arabian Plate ⓘ Caribbean Plate ⓘ Eurasian Plate ⓘ Indo-Australian Plate ⓘ surface form: Indian Plate Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ Nazca Plate ⓘ Somali Plate ⓘ South American Plate ⓘ
causes	earthquakes along its boundaries ⓘ seafloor spreading in the Atlantic Ocean ⓘ volcanism in East Africa ⓘ
containsFeature	African Plate self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Nubian Plate (main portion) oceanic crust of Central Atlantic ⓘ oceanic crust of South Atlantic ⓘ
continent	Africa ⓘ
hasBoundaryType	convergent boundary ⓘ divergent boundary ⓘ transform boundary ⓘ
hasType	continental plate ⓘ oceanic plate ⓘ
includesRegion	Central Atlantic Ocean floor ⓘ East African Rift ⓘ Mediterranean Sea floor segments ⓘ Red Sea ⓘ Sahara Desert ⓘ South Atlantic mid-ocean ridge system ⓘ surface form: South Atlantic Ocean floor
locatedIn	Eastern Hemisphere ⓘ Northern Hemisphere ⓘ Southern Hemisphere ⓘ
motionDirection	northeastward ⓘ northward ⓘ
motionSpeed	about 2.15 cm per year ⓘ
movesRelativeTo	Antarctic Plate ⓘ Eurasian Plate ⓘ South American Plate ⓘ
partOf	lithosphere ⓘ
playsRoleIn	continental drift ⓘ formation of mountain ranges ⓘ formation of rift valleys ⓘ seismic activity in Africa ⓘ
riftingWith	Somali Plate ⓘ
separatingFrom	North American Plate ⓘ South American Plate ⓘ
underlies	African continent ⓘ adjacent oceanic crust ⓘ

Referenced by (86)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Mid-Atlantic Ridge → separates → African Plate ⓘ

North American Plate → hasBoundaryWith → African Plate ⓘ

Indo-Australian Plate → hasBoundaryWith → African Plate ⓘ

Eurasian Plate → hasBoundaryWith → African Plate ⓘ

Eurasian Plate → interactsWith → African Plate ⓘ

Eurasian Plate → movesRelativeTo → African Plate ⓘ

Romanche Fracture Zone → tectonicPlate → African Plate ⓘ

Antarctic Plate → borders → African Plate ⓘ

Antarctic Plate → separatedFrom → African Plate ⓘ

Calypso Deep → tectonicPlate → African Plate ⓘ

Bouvet Triple Junction region → hasTectonicPlate → African Plate ⓘ

Southwest Indian Ridge → separates → African Plate ⓘ

Hellenic Trench → associatedWith → African Plate ⓘ

South American Plate → borders → African Plate ⓘ

African Plate → containsFeature → African Plate self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Nubian Plate (main portion)

Red Sea → plateBoundaryBetween → African Plate ⓘ

Cumbre Vieja → tectonicPlate → African Plate ⓘ

Western Mediterranean → locatedOn → African Plate ⓘ

East African Rift → partOf → African Plate ⓘ

East African Rift → separates → African Plate ⓘ

this entity surface form: Nubian Plate

Azores Triple Junction → involvesPlate → African Plate ⓘ

Afar Triangle → plateBoundary → African Plate ⓘ

this entity surface form: Nubian Plate

Romanche Trench → separates → African Plate ⓘ

breakup of Gondwana → resultsIn → African Plate ⓘ

Arabian Plate → borders → African Plate ⓘ

Arabian Plate → isRiftingFrom → African Plate ⓘ

Mediterranean Ridge region → separates → African Plate ⓘ

Hellenic subduction system → subductingPlate → African Plate ⓘ

Aegean Sea Plate → boundedBy → African Plate ⓘ

Aegean Sea Plate → movesRelativeTo → African Plate ⓘ

Hellenic Arc → plateInvolved → African Plate ⓘ

South Atlantic mid-ocean ridge system → separates → African Plate ⓘ

Central Indian Ridge → separates → African Plate ⓘ

Indian Ocean Ridge system → separates → African Plate ⓘ

Tyrrhenian region → locatedOn → African Plate ⓘ

this entity surface form: African Plate margin

Somali Plate → partOf → African Plate ⓘ

Somali Plate → separatingFrom → African Plate ⓘ

Somali Plate → separatedFrom → African Plate ⓘ

this entity surface form: Nubian Plate

Somali Plate → movesRelativeTo → African Plate ⓘ

this entity surface form: Nubian Plate

Iberian Plate → borders → African Plate ⓘ

Iberian Plate → interactsWith → African Plate ⓘ

Iberian Plate → movementRelativeTo → African Plate ⓘ

province of Las Palmas → locatedOn → African Plate ⓘ

this entity surface form: African tectonic plate

Kaapvaal Craton → partOf → African Plate ⓘ

Canary hotspot volcanic system → tectonicPlate → African Plate ⓘ

Rift Valley escarpments → locatedIn → African Plate ⓘ

Gregory Rift → associatedWith → African Plate ⓘ

Great Rift Valley system (wider geological context) → associatedWith → African Plate ⓘ

subject surface form: Great Rift Valley system

Gloria Fault → tectonicPlateBoundaryBetween → African Plate ⓘ

Gloria Fault → separates → African Plate ⓘ