인도-오스트레일리아판(India-Australian Plate)
오스트레일리아 대륙, 인도 아대륙, 인도양 동부, 태평양 남서부를 이루는 판이다. 최근의 연구 결과, 인도-오스트레일리아판은 히말라야산맥에서 유라시아판과 충돌 결과 생긴 변형력으로 인해 인도판과 오스트레일리아판으로 나뉘고 있다 한다.
인도 아대륙과 메가네시아(오스트레일리아, 뉴기니섬, 태즈메이니아섬), 뉴질랜드, 누벨칼레도니 등은 고대의 곤드와나 초대륙이 갈라져서 만들어졌다. 해양저의 확장을 통해 육지가 갈라졌으나, 그 움직임이 멈추고 하나의 판으로 굳어졌다
최근 오스트레일리아에서의 GPS 측정 결과, 북쪽에서 35도 동쪽 방향으로 1년에 67mm의 속도로 이동하고 있다고 확인되었다. 이 속도는 오클랜드, 크리스마스섬, 남부 인도 등에서도 동일하게 측정되었다. 오클랜드에서의 측정에서는 약간 방향이 다르게 나왔는데, 태평양 판과의 충돌로 인해서라 추측된다.
Indo-Australian Plate
The Indo-Australian Plate is one of Earth’s 7 major plate tectonic boundaries. It’s the second smallest being slightly larger than the South American Plate.
By the name, you can probably identify that it contains parts of India and Australia. But as with most tectonic plate boundaries, they often consist of both continent and ocean crust.
The Indo-Australian Plate includes the majority of the Indian Ocean. It borders the Eurasian Plate in the north, the Antarctic Plate in the south, and the Pacific Plate in the east.
Continental drift means that plates are never idle. Over time, they move at a snail’s pace. For example, the Indo-Australian Plate moves at an average rate of about 3 centimeters per year.
Two plates are separated but we often count them as one
Indo-Australian Plate
The Indo-Australia plate is a major plate combining the Australian and Indian Plates. But they are widely considered to be two separate plates.
The Indo-Australia plate stretches from Australia to India. It also includes the oceanic crust of the Indian Ocean. The northeast side of the Australian plate converges with the Pacific Plate.
Long ago, Australia, India, and Antarctica were once connected as the supercontinent Gondwana. As part of the supercontinent cycle, India drifted apart moving northwards.
At about 58,900,000 km2, the Indo-Australia plate is the sixth largest plate tectonic boundary.
The Himalayan mountain range formation
About 50 million years ago, the Indian Plate and Eurasian Plate began colliding with each other lifting the Himalayan mountain range. To this day, these convergent plate boundaries are still uplifting building new mountains.
Because plate tectonic boundaries contain both oceanic and continental crust, the Indo-Australia plate contains the following features:
Both countries of India and Australia are situated on the Indo-Australia plate.
Sri Lanka, Fiji, Vanuatu, and parts of New Zealand, Pakistan, and Papua New Guinea are located on this plate
The Indo-Australia plate contains the majority of the Indian Ocean and the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand
The Australian Plate pushes into the Pacific Plate along the country of New Zealand causing violent earthquakes. For example, the magnitude 8.2 Wairarapa earthquake struck New Zealand in 1855 and was the largest recorded in New Zealand’s history.