[2] Forming the Atlantic segment of the boundary between the African and Eurasian plates, the AGFZ is largely dominated by compressional forces between these converging (3.8 to 5.6 mm/a (0.15 to 0.22 in/year)) plates, but it is subject to a dynamic tectonic regime that also involves extension and transform faulting.
[2] The western end of the AGFZ, the Azores triple junction on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR), is where the North American, African, and Eurasian plates meet.
[1] The eastern segment of the fault is complex and characterised by a series of seamounts and ridges separating the Tores and Horseshoe abyssal plains.
The active compressional deformation in this segment is an extremely rare example of compression between two oceanic lithospheres.
[4] The extension of this subduction system, known as the "allochthonous unit of the Gulf of Cadiz" (AUGC), marks the continuing propagation of the Alpide belt into the Atlantic along the AGFZ.