| 25th | Top tectonic plates |
The South American Plate is a tectonic plate covering the continent of South America and extending eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
The easterly side is a divergent boundary with the African Plate forming the southern part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The southerly side is a complex boundary with the Antarctic Plate and the Scotia Plate. The westerly side is a convergent boundary with the subducting Nazca Plate. The northerly side is a boundary with the Caribbean Plate. At the Chile Triple Junction in Taitato-Tres Montes Peninsula an oceanic ridge, the Chile Rise, is subducting under the South American plate.
The Nazca Plate, the southernmost portion of the former Farallon plate, is still subducting under the western edge of the South American Plate. This subduction is responsible for lifting the massive Andes Mountains and causing the volcanoes which are strewn throughout them.
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