Explorer Plate

The Explorer Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada.

The eastern boundary of the Explorer Plate is being slowly subducted under the North American Plate, to which it may eventually accrete owing to the slow rate of subduction. The southern boundary is a collection of transform faults, the Sovanco Fracture Zone, separating the Explorer Plate from the Pacific Plate. To the southeast is another transform boundary, the Nootka Fault separating it from the Juan de Fuca Plate. To the northwest is a divergent boundary with the Pacific Plate forming the Explorer Ridge. The Explorer Plate is the northernmost remnant of the Farallon Plate.