North American Plate

borders

clockwise around the African Plate

Eurasian Plate

Farallon Plate

On its western edge, the Farallon Plate has been subducting under the North American Plate since the Jurassic Period.

motion

For the most part, the North American Plate moves in roughly a southwest direction away from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at a rate of about 2.3 centimeters (~1 inch) per year. At the same time, the Pacific Plate is moving to the northwest at a speed of between 7 and 11 centimeters (~3-4 inches) a year.

random

hills

tags

tectonic plate
Earth

tectonic plate of

North America

Wikipedia

North American Plate (Wikipedia) The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and the Azores. With an area of 76 million km2 (29 million sq mi), it is the Earth’s second largest tectonic plate, behind the Pacific Plate (which borders the plate to the west).