Anatolian plate in the context of "Strike-slip fault"

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⭐ Core Definition: Anatolian plate

The Anatolian plate is a continental tectonic plate lying under Asiatic part of Turkey, known as Anatolia. Most of the country of Turkey is located on the Anatolian plate. The plate is separated from the Eurasian plate and the Arabian plate by the North Anatolian Fault and the East Anatolian Fault respectively. According to the American Museum of Natural History, the Anatolian transform fault system is "probably the most active in the world".

Most significant earthquakes in the region have historically occurred along the northern fault, such as the 1939 Erzincan earthquake. The northern edge is a transform boundary with the Eurasian plate, forming the North Anatolian Fault zone (NAFZ). The East Anatolian Fault, a left lateral transform fault, forms a boundary with the Arabian plate. The devastating 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes occurred along the active East Anatolian Fault at a strike-slip fault where the Arabian plate is sliding past the Anatolian plate horizontally.

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Anatolian plate in the context of African plate

The African plate, also known as the Nubian plate, is a major tectonic plate that includes most of the continent of Africa (except for its easternmost part) and the adjacent oceanic crust to the west and south. It also includes a narrow strip of Western Asia along the Mediterranean Sea, including much of Israel and Lebanon. It is bounded by the North American plate and South American plate to the west (separated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge); the Arabian plate and Somali plate to the east; the Eurasian plate, Aegean Sea plate and Anatolian plate to the north; and the Antarctic plate to the south.

Between 60 million years ago and 10 million years ago, the Somali plate began rifting from the African plate along the East African Rift. Since the continent of Africa consists of crust from both the African and the Somali plates, some literature refers to the African plate as the Nubian plate to distinguish it from the continent as a whole.

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Anatolian plate in the context of Marash triple junction

The Maraş triple junction is a geologic triple junction of three tectonic plates: the Anatolian plate, the African plate and the Arabian plate.

The Maraş triple junction is found where the side-by-side African and Arabian plates, both drifting north and demarcated by the north–south trending Dead Sea Transform (itself an extension of the African Rift Valleys), come up against the Anatolian plate lying across their path at the East Anatolian Fault. The junction site is near the Gulf of Alexandretta, and is ~700 km distant from the Karlıova triple junction. After a long quiescence, the Maraş triple junction was ruptured by the violent 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake.

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