Galapagos Triple Junction

The Galapagos Triple Junction is a geological area in the eastern Pacific Ocean several hundred miles west of the Galapagos Islands where three tectonic plates - the Cocos Plate, the Nazca Plate and the Pacific Plate - meet. It is an unusual type of triple junction in which the three plates do not meet at a simple intersection. Instead, the junction includes two small microplates, the Galapagos Microplate and the Northern Galapagos Microplate, caught in the junction, turning synchronously with respect to each other and separated by the Hess Deep rift.[1]

References

  1. ↑ Emily M. Klein; Deborah K. Smith; Clare M. Williams; Hans Schouten (24 February 2005). "Counter-rotating microplates at the Galapagos triple junction". Nature. Nature Publishing Group. 433: 855–858. doi:10.1038/nature03262. PMID 15729339. Retrieved 14 November 2016.


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