Pacific Plate Experiencing Rupture From Japan To New Zealand, Study Reveals

The Pacific plate is the largest tectonic plate on Earth’s rigid outer shell, which is divided into a dozen large tectonic plates. A major discovery by researchers from the University of Toronto has shed new light on the century-old model of plate tectonics by revealing that the Pacific plate is being pulled apart. The team found that large undersea faults are scoring the Pacific plate and pulling it apart, uncovering enormous forces tugging away at the plates. The undersea faults, hundreds of kilometers long and thousands of meters deep, have revealed surprising geological deformations happening to ocean plates.

This discovery challenges the previous understanding of plate tectonics and highlights that the plates are not as pristine as previously thought. The Pacific plate constitutes most of the Pacific Ocean floor and stretches from the west coast of North America to Alaska, and from Japan to New Zealand and Australia. This large tectonic plate also forms a significant portion of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Recent research has identified new points at which the Pacific plate is being pulled into the mantle, overturning previous assumptions about the strength of sub-oceanic plateaus.

The research team studied four plateaus in the western Pacific Ocean – the Ontong Java, Shatsky, Hess, and Manihiki – and used a supercomputer to analyze the data, comparing it with information collected in studies from the 1970s and 80s. This new finding challenges the previously taught understanding of the active Earth and highlights radical mysteries about the grand operation of our evolving planet.