Woodlark Plate

Woodlark Plate
Map
Approximate surface projections of active tectonic plates. Key:   Woodlark Plate,   Trobriand Plate,   Solomon Sea Plate,   Active trench subduction boundaries,   Inactive trench subduction boundaries,   current spreading boundary. The Australian Plate to the southeast and the Pacific Plate to the northwest are not shown, but their complex collision has created these microplates. Click and then mouse over shows feature names.
TypeMicroplates
Movement1northeast
Speed158 mm/year
FeaturesNew Guinea, Pacific Ocean
1Relative to the African Plate
Seafloor topographic map of area of Woodlark Plate (W. P.) which is confined to the north of the Woodlark Basin's mid oceanic ridge.[1] The eastern part of the mid oceanic ridge boundary can be seen between the black label W.P, and the white label Woodlark Basin below it.

The Woodlark Plate is a small almost triangular shaped tectonic plate located east of the island of New Guinea and situated mainly within the northern half of the Woodlark Basin. It is located in a very complex tectonic environment, that because of associated features, has been extensively studied since it was first proposed to exist. It is now known to be much smaller than originally proposed, mainly because of information from GPS stations on islands and sea floor studies that have fully defined its margins.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Benyshek2021F2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).