It’s the layer we live on. Land on the west side of the fault zone (on the Pacific Plate) is moving in a northwesterly direction relative to the land on the east side of the fault zone (on the North American Plate). California is a welcome in the Pacific Region of the joined States. This plate forms a large portion of the Pacific Ring of Fire. When magma reaches the surface, it’s lava. of plate movement can vary over time. The Pacific plate forms a divergent boundary in the... See full answer below. [citation needed], In the south-west, the Pacific Plate has a complex but generally convergent boundary with the Indo-Australian Plate, subducting under it north of New Zealand forming the Tonga Trench and the Kermadec Trench. If a segment of the San Andreas Fault is “locked” for a century, then a large earthquake might result in 200 inches (2 inches/year x 100 years) of movement along the fault in less than a minute. There are three types of plate boundaries. The movement of the plates relative to each other has been about 1 cm (0.4 inch) per year over geologic time , though the annual rate of movement has been 4 to 6 cm … But it’s an interior hot spot within the Pacific Plate that is responsible for the volcanic activity that occurs here. The rate at which the Pacific Plate moves can be calculated if the age of a volcanic island Along it, the Pacific Plate has been grinding horizontally past the North American Plate for 10 million years, at an average rate of about 5 cm/yr. Plate boundaries interact with each other in 3 primary ways. Lastly, the San Andreas fault is between the North American Plate and Pacific Plate are transform plate boundaries. At 47 Ma, the Pacific plate in the model of Müller et al. With a size of 102,900,000 km2, it more than doubles the size of the South American Plate. Convergent (colliding) boundaries are shown as a black line with teeth, divergent (spreading) boundaries as solid red lines, and transform (sliding alongside) boundaries as solid black lines. Inside Earth, we have a crust, core and mantle. At 103 million km (40 million sq mi), it is the largest tectonic plate. [citation needed]. The North American plate is moving to the west-southwest at about 2.3 cm (~1 inch) per year driven by the spreading center that created the Atlantic Ocean, the Mid Atlantic Ridge. CD-ROM. Expert Answer 100% (1 rating) The Kauai and Molokai Seamounts extend in a southeast to northwest orientation. One example is the Pacific plate sliding northwest relative to the North American plate; this is marked by the famous San Andreas Fault. Encarta. For example the Juan de Fuca Plate is actually three separate plates (Gorda, Juan de Fuca, and Explorer) that all move in the same general direction but at slightly different rates. Explain why this might happen. Pacific Plate is the largest tectonic plate on Earth. Overview In the activity, students use information about the average age of the Hawaiian Islands and At convergent boundaries, plates are colliding and unleashing great geological forces, like large earthquakes and expl… Overview In the activity, students use information about the average age of the … As these two plates pull apart from each other, it forms new oceanic crust. In addition, each type of boundary is associated with particular geologic activities, like earthquakes and the creation of mountains and volcanoes. The direction of plate movement in the last 1.1 million years_____. The south-eastern side is a divergent boundary with the Nazca Plate forming the East Pacific Rise. The Pacific Plate is moving in the northwest direction at a rate of 56 to 102 millimeter per year. The Pacific Plate stretches all the way along the west coast of North America up to Alaska. Rate of Plate Movement Overview: Hawaiÿi volcanoes are born when magma rises from a hotspot through the Pacific Plate and is erupted as lava onto the ocean floor. For example, the Pacific Plate underlies the Pacific Ocean with the Hawaiian Islands positioned smack dab in the middle. Note that the hotspot is not at a plate boundary. At 103 million km2 (40 million sq mi), it is the largest tectonic plate. The arrow shows the approximate direction of plate movement. Hawaiian Islands on the Pacific Plate. Hot Spots and Plate Movement exercise Two good examples of present-day hot spot volcanism, as derived from mantle plumes beneath crustal plates, are Kilauea, Hawaii (on the Pacific oceanic plate) and Yellowstone (on the continental North American plate). The Pacific Plate is being moved north west due to sea floor spreading from the East Pacific Rise (divergent margin) in the Gulf of California.