What is the Cocos plate?
Q: What is the Cocos plate?
A: The Cocos plate is a geologically young oceanic tectonic plate located beneath the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Central America.
Q: When was the Cocos plate created?
A: The Cocos plate was created about 23 million years ago when a larger plate broke into two pieces.
Q: What is the name of the island that rides on the Cocos plate?
A: The island that rides on the Cocos plate is called Cocos Island.
Q: What other plate was created when the larger plate broke into two pieces?
A: The other plate that was created when the larger plate broke into two pieces is the Nazca plate.
Q: What complicated set of little plates is caused by the Cocos-Nazca spreading system?
A: The complicated set of little plates caused by the Cocos-Nazca spreading system includes the Cocos, Nazca, and Rivera plates.
Q: What is the leading edge of the Cocos plate doing?
A: The leading edge of the Cocos plate is subducting (going under existing plates), which causes the Central American Volcanic Arc.
Q: What caused the Galapagos Islands?
A: The Galapagos Islands were caused by the Galapagos hotspot, which is located near the Cocos plate.
