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:
“Say “Yessum” to the ladies, an’ “Yessur” to the men,
And when they’s company, don’t pass yer plate for pie again;
But, thinkin’ of the things yer’d like to see upon that tree,
Jes ‘fore Christmas be as good as yer kin be!”
—Eugene Field (1850–1895)