Pacific Plate facts for kids

The Pacific Plate is a giant piece of Earth's outer shell, called a tectonic plate. It sits mostly under the Pacific Ocean. It is the largest tectonic plate on our planet. This plate is always moving, though very slowly. Its movement helps shape the Earth's surface.

What is the Pacific Plate?

The Pacific Plate is like a massive puzzle piece that makes up Earth's crust. It covers about 103 million square kilometers (about 40 million square miles). This makes it the biggest tectonic plate in the world. It includes much of the Pacific Ocean floor. It also includes parts of some continents.

Where is the Pacific Plate Located?

This huge plate is found beneath the Pacific Ocean. Its edges touch many other plates. These include the North American Plate, the Philippine Sea Plate, and the Indo-Australian Plate. The places where plates meet are called plate boundaries. These boundaries are often where earthquakes and volcanoes happen.

How Does the Pacific Plate Move?

The Pacific Plate moves in different directions. It slides under some plates and grinds past others. For example, it moves northwest towards Asia. It also moves east towards North America. This movement is very slow, only a few centimeters each year. This is about as fast as your fingernails grow!

Hotspots and the Hawaiian Islands

The Pacific Plate is famous for the hot spot that created the Hawaiian Islands. A hotspot is a place where hot magma rises from deep within the Earth. This magma melts through the plate above it. As the Pacific Plate moves over this hotspot, new volcanoes form. Over millions of years, this process has built the chain of islands we know as Hawaii. The oldest islands are to the northwest. The newest ones are still forming over the hotspot.

Images for kids

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  The Pacific Plate and other main plates of Earth's outer layer.

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  The Pacific Plate started forming about 190 million years ago.

See also

In Spanish: Placa del Pacífico para niños