ANATOMY

Detailed explanation-1: -They can move at rates of up to four inches (10 centimeters) per year, but most move much slower than that. Different parts of a plate move at different speeds. The plates move in different directions, colliding, moving away from, and sliding past one another. Most plates are made of both oceanic and continental crust.

Detailed explanation-2: -Earth’s land masses move toward and away from each other at an average rate of about 1.5 centimeters (0.6 inches) a year. That’s about the rate that human toenails grow!

Detailed explanation-3: -On average, the Pacific Plate moves at a rate of 5 to 10 centimeters per year. However, the Pacific Plate, Cocos Plate, Nazca Plate, and Antarctic Plate move more than 10 centimeters which is the fastest movement rate of all plate tectonics.

Detailed explanation-4: -These average rates of plate separations can range widely. The Arctic Ridge has the slowest rate (less than 2.5 cm/yr), and the East Pacific Rise near Easter Island, in the South Pacific about 3, 400 km west of Chile, has the fastest rate (more than 15 cm/yr).

Detailed explanation-5: -All tectonic plates move relative to other plates, and the Pacific plate is moving at a rate of roughly 50 millimeters/year (2 inches/year) relative to the North American plate. Most, but not all, of this motion occurs along the San Andreas Fault.