What is Cocos plate?
[[File:CocosPlate.png|thumb|250px|The Cocos Plate]] The '''Cocos plate''' is a geologically young oceanic [[tectonic plate]]. It is beneath the [[Pacific Ocean]] off the west coast of [[Central America]]. [[Cocos Island]] rides on it. The Cocos plate was created about 23 million years ago when a larger plate broke into two pieces. The other piece became the [[Nazca plate]]. The Cocos plate also broke into two pieces, creating the small [[Rivera plate]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Manea|first1=V.C.|last2=Manea|first2=M.|last3=Ferarri|first3=L.|title=A geodynamical perspective on the subduction of Cocos and Rivera plates beneath Mexico and Central America|journal=Tectonophysics|date=2013|volume=609|pages=56–81|doi=10.1016/j.tecto.2012.12.039|url=http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0040195113000231/1-s2.0-S0040195113000231-main.pdf?_tid=c79d5548-2918-11e7-80ea-00000aab0f26&acdnat=1493057386_bf3bdceb8fdea9412e3bc7ae1557b8ea|access-date=24 April 2017}}{{Dead link|date=January 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The Cocos plate touches several different plates. To the northeast it touches the [[North American plate]] and the [[Caribbean plate]]. To the west it touches the [[Pacific plate]] and to the south the [[Nazca plate]]. This complicated set of little plates is caused by what geologists call the ''Cocos-Nazca spreading system''. The leading edge is [[subduction|subducting]] (going under existing plates). This causes the [[Central American Volcanic Arc]]. The Cocos Plate is near the Galapagos [[hotspot (geology)|hotspot]], which caused the [[Galapagos Islands]]. == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Tectonic plates]] [[Category:Central America]]