What is African plate?
[[File:AfricanPlate.png|thumb|right|280px|The African Plate]] The '''African Plate''' is a major [[tectonic plate]]. It includes much of the [[continent]] of [[Africa]], as well as the [[oceanic crust]] which lies between the continent and various surrounding ocean ridges. Since the continent of Africa includes the African Plate and the smaller plates to its right, some literature refers to the African Plate as the '''Nubian Plate''' to distinguish it from the continent as a whole.<ref>{{Cite journal| last = Chu D. & Gordon R.G. 1999. | title = Evidence for motion between Nubia and Somalia along the Southwest Indian ridge journal | journal = Nature | date = March 1999 | volume = 398 | issue = 6722 | pages = 64–67 | url = http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v398/n6722/abs/398064a0.html | access-date = 14 April 2020| doi = 10.1038/18014| s2cid = 4403043 }}</ref> Between 60 million years ago (mya) and 10 mya, the [[Somali Plate]] began [[rift (geology)|rifting]] from the African Plate along the [[East African Rift]]. [[Image:Tectonical map of East Africa.png|thumb|right|280px|Map of East Africa showing some of the historically active volcanoes(red triangles) and the [[Afar Triangle]] (shaded, center) -- a [[triple junction]] where three plates are pulling away from one another: the Arabian Plate, the African Plate, and the Somali Plate (USGS)]] One [[hypothesis]] suggests a [[mantle plume]] beneath the [[Afar Triangle|Afar region]]. Another hypothesis suggests the rifting is just a zone of weakness as the plates to its east move northwards. The African Plate's speed is about {{convert|2.15|cm|in|abbr=on}} per year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://hypertextbook.com/facts/1997/ZhenHuang.shtml|title=Speed of the continental plates|first=Zhen Shao|last=Huang|date=1997|publisher=Glenn Elert|access-date=14 April 2020|work=The Physics Factbook}}</ref> It has been moving over the past 100 million years or so in a general northeast direction. This is drawing it closer to the [[Eurasian Plate]]. There is [[subduction]] where