Editing Nazca plate (section)

{{Short description|Oceanic tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin}}
{{Infobox tectonic plate
| image = File:NazcaPlate.png
| type = [[List of tectonic plates#Minor plates|Minor]]
| area = 15,600,000 km<sup>2</sup><ref>{{cite web |url=http://geology.about.com/library/bl/blplate_size_table.htm |title=Sizes of Tectonic or Lithospheric Plates |work=About.com Geology |access-date=4 January 2016 |archive-date=9 February 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070209033841/http://geology.about.com/library/bl/blplate_size_table.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| move_direction = north-east
| move_speed = 40-53 mm/year
| geo_features = [[Pacific Ocean]]
}}

The '''Nazca plate''' or '''Nasca plate''',<ref>{{Cite book |title=Oxford Atlas of the World 26th Ed. |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-19-006581-2 |location=New York, NY |pages=74}}</ref> named after the [[Nazca]] region of southern [[Peru]], is an oceanic [[list of tectonic plates|tectonic plate]] in the eastern [[Pacific Ocean]] basin off the west coast of [[South America]]. The ongoing [[subduction]], along the [[Peru–Chile Trench]], of the Nazca plate under the [[South American plate]] is largely responsible for the [[Andes|Andean]] [[orogeny]]. The Nazca plate is bounded on the west by the [[Pacific plate]] and to the south by the [[Antarctic plate]] through the [[East Pacific Rise]] and the [[Chile Rise]], respectively. The movement of the Nazca plate over several [[Hotspot (geology)|hotspots]] has created some [[volcanic islands]] as well as east–west running [[seamount]] chains that subduct under [[South America]]. Nazca is a relatively young plate in terms of the age of its rocks and its existence as an independent plate, having been formed from the breakup of the [[Farallon plate]] about 23&nbsp;million years ago. The oldest rocks of the plate are about 50&nbsp;million years old.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sea Floor Spreading in the Pacific (Plate Boundaries Shown) |first=Steven |last=Dutch |url=https://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/GeolColBk/PacificSFS-PB.HTM |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100317130720/https://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/GeolColBk/PacificSFS-PB.HTM |archive-date=17 March 2010 |date=10 August 2009 |publisher=University of Wisconsin – Green Bay}}</ref>