Nubian plate in the context of "Somali plate"

The Azores, officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores, is an autonomous region of Portugal, in the Atlantic Ocean about 1,400 km (870 miles) west of mainland Portugal. Together with Madeira, it is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal and a special territory of the European Union. It is the westernmost point and region of Portugal.

The Azores is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atlantic Ocean.There are nine major Azorean islands and an islet cluster, in three main groups. These are Flores and Corvo to the west; Graciosa, Terceira, São Jorge, Pico, and Faial in the centre; and São Miguel, Santa Maria, and the Formigas islets to the east. They extend for more than 600 km (370 mi) and lie in a northwest–southeast direction. All the islands have volcanic origins, although some, such as Santa Maria, have had no recorded activity in the time since the islands were settled several centuries ago. Mount Pico on the island of Pico is the highest point in Portugal, at 2,351 m (7,713 ft). If measured from their base at the bottom of the ocean to their peaks, the Azores are among the tallest mountains on the planet. The Azores are located at the seismically active Azores triple junction plate boundary where the North American plate, Eurasian plate and Nubian plate meet.

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

It extends eastward to the seismically active Mid-Atlantic Ridge at the Azores triple junction plate boundary where it meets the Eurasian plate and Nubian plate.and westward to the Chersky Range in eastern Siberia. The plate includes both continental and oceanic crust. The interior of the main continental landmass includes an extensive granitic core called a craton. Along most of the edges of this craton are fragments of crustal material called terranes, which are accreted to the craton by tectonic actions over a long span of time. Much of North America west of the Rocky Mountains is composed of such terranes.

The East African Rift (EAR) or East African Rift System (EARS) is an active continental rift zone in East Africa. The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22–25 million years ago. It is considered to be part of a larger system, formerly known as the Great Rift Valley, that extends north to Asia Minor.

A narrow zone, the rift is a developing divergent tectonic plate boundary where the African plate is in the process of splitting into two tectonic plates, called the Somali plate and the Nubian plate, at a rate of 6–7 mm (0.24–0.28 in) per year. The rift system consists of three microplates, the Victoria microplate to the north, and the Rovuma and Lwandle microplates to the south. The Victoria microplate is rotating anti-clockwise with respect to the African plate. Its rotation is caused by the configuration of mechanically weaker and stronger lithospheric regions in the EARS.

The Victoria microplate or Victoria plate is a small tectonic plate in East Africa, with Lake Victoria at its centre. It is bounded on all sides by parts of the active East African Rift System. It is currently rotating anticlockwise. Its boundaries are close to those of the mainly Archaean Tanzania Craton, with the two arms of the rift system having propagated along the surrounding Proterozoic shear belts. To the northwest, west and southwest it has a boundary with the Nubian plate, to the northeast and east with the Somali plate and the southeast with the Rovuma plate.

The Rovuma plate or Rovuma microplate is one of the four tectonic microplates that, together with the larger Nubian plate, form the African plate. The other three are the Somali plate, the Lwandle plate and the Victoria plate.

The Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) is a mid-ocean ridge located along the floors of the south-west Indian Ocean and south-east Atlantic Ocean. A divergent tectonic plate boundary separating the Somali plate to the north from the Antarctic plate to the south, the SWIR is characterised by ultra-slow spreading rates (only exceeding those of the Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic) combined with a fast lengthening of its axis between the two flanking triple junctions, Rodrigues (20°30′S 70°00′E / 20.500°S 70.000°E / -20.500; 70.000) in the Indian Ocean and Bouvet (54°17′S 1°5′W / 54.283°S 1.083°W / -54.283; -1.083) in the Atlantic Ocean.