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The Boundary Between The Pacific Plate And Australian Plate Boundary Essay

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Sarit Laschinsky
ESS 211 AC
Pacific and Australian Plate Boundary
The boundary between the Pacific Plate and Australian Plate is marked by volcanism, earthquakes, and different and unique topography. The border of these two plates is composed of a mix of transform and convergent boundaries along the Eastern edge of the Australian plate, with both divergent and convergent boundaries along the Northern edge. The Australian Plate is moving in a North to Northeastern direction at a speed of approximately 7 cm /year (although the continent of Australia only shifts by approximately 5.6 cm/year) [1][7]. Meanwhile, the Pacific Plate moves towards the Northwest at a speed of also approximately 7 cm/year (at least the speed of the movement of Hawaii). [7] Each plate subducts beneath the other at some points along the boundary, which contributes to some of the different volcanism and topographical features along the plate boundary.
One of the major features of the Western edge of the Australian/Pacific plate boundary is the Alpine Fault. This is a transform or strike slip fault, running approximately 600 miles up the South Island of New Zealand. The Alpine Fault is considered to be a visible, “on-land” boundary of the two constituent plates, and also marks the transition from a transform to convergent boundary. The Alpine Fault also ruptures, which leads to seismic activity as well as considerable horizontal movement, up to 30 m every 1000 years. This horizontal movement causes

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