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The Philippine Sea plate,
shown in dull red
Philippine Sea Plate details
The Philippine Sea Plate is a tectonic plate comprising oceanic lithosphere that lies
beneath the Philippine Sea, to the east of the Philippines. Most
segments of the Philippines, including northern Luzon, are part of the Philippine Mobile Belt, which is
geologically and tectonically separate from the Philippine Sea
Plate.
To the north, the Philippine Sea Plate meets the Okhotsk Plate at
the Nankai
Trough. The Philippine Sea Plate, the Amurian Plate, and the Okhotsk Plate meet
at Mount Fuji in Japan. Thickened crust of the
Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc colliding with Japan constitutes the Izu
Collision Zone.
The eastern side of the Philippine Sea Plate is a convergent
boundary with the Pacific Plate subducting at the Izu-Ogasawara Trench. The east of
the plate includes the Izu-Ogasawara (Bonin)
and the Mariana
Islands, forming the Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc system.
There is also a divergent boundary between the
Philippine Sea Plate and the small Mariana Plate which carries the Mariana
Islands.
To the south, the Philippine Sea Plate is bounded by the Caroline Plate
and Bird's
Head Plate.
To the west, the Philippine Sea Plate subducts under the Philippine Mobile Belt at the Philippine
Trench and the East Luzon
Trench. (The adjacent rendition of Prof Peter Bird's map is
inaccurate in this respect.)
To the north-west the Philippine Sea Plate meets Taiwan and the Ryukyu islands on the Okinawa Plate, and
southern Japan on the Amurian Plate.
Maps
High resolution map of Tectonic Plate Boundaries
References
Coordinates: 26°N 132°E / 26°N
132°E / 26;
132