The Woodlark Plate is a small

tectonic plate Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large te ...

located in the eastern half of the island of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. It subducts beneath the

Caroline plate The Caroline Plate is a minor tectonic plate that straddles the Equator in the eastern hemisphere located north of New Guinea. It forms a subduction zone along the border with the Bird's Head Plate and the Woodlark Plate to the south. A transform ...

along its northern border while the

Maoke Plate The Maoke Plate is a small tectonic plate located in western New Guinea underlying the Sudirman Range from which the highest mountain on the island- Puncak Jaya rises. To its east is a convergent boundary with the Woodlark Plate. To the south lies ...

converges on the west, the

Australian plate The Australian Plate is a major tectonic plate in the eastern and, largely, southern hemispheres. Originally a part of the ancient continent of Gondwana, Australia remained connected to India and Antarctica until approximately when India broke ...

converges on the south, and on the east an undefined compressive zone which may be a

transform fault A transform fault or transform boundary, is a fault along a plate boundary where the motion is predominantly horizontal. It ends abruptly where it connects to another plate boundary, either another transform, a spreading ridge, or a subductio ...

marking the boundary with the adjoining

Solomon Sea Plate The Solomon Sea Plate is a minor tectonic plate to the northwest of the Solomon Islands archipelago in the south Pacific Ocean. Itt roughly corresponds with the Solomon Sea east of Papua New Guinea. Tectonics The tectonic regime in this part of t ...

. It also contacts the

South Bismarck Plate The South Bismarck Plate is a small tectonic plate located in the southern Bismarck Sea. The eastern part of New Guinea and the island of New Britain are on this plate. Tectonics Convergent boundaries line the southern border including the subdu ...

due northeast.

References

* Tectonic plates Geology of the Pacific Ocean {{tectonics-stub

See also

References