The Scotia Plate, named after the sea which overlies it, is a tectonic plate on the edge of the South Atlantic and Antarctic Ocean. Thought to have formed during the early Eocene with the opening of the Drake Passage, it is a minor plate whose movement is largely controlled by the two major plates that surround it; the South American plate and Antarctic plate. Having formed as oceanic crust, it is almost completely submerged with only the small exception of the South Georgia Islands on its north-eastern edge and the southern tip of South America.
Read more about Scotia Plate: Tectonic Setting, South Georgia Islands, Paleo-tectonics
Famous quotes containing the word plate:
“Then he rang the bell and ordered a ham sandwich. When the maid placed the plate on the table, he deliberately looked away but as soon as the door had shut, he grabbed the sandwich with both hands, immediately soiled his fingers and chin with the hanging margin of fat and, grunting greedily, began to much.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)