Cocos plate

The Cocos plate is a young oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Central America, named for Cocos Island, which rides upon it.

The only land above water on the Cocos plate is Cocos Island, which is administered by Costa Rica and lies approximately 550 km (342 mi; 297 nmi) southwest of the Costa Rican mainland.

The Cocos plate was created by sea floor spreading along the East Pacific Rise and the Cocos Ridge, specifically in a complicated area geologists call the Cocos-Nazca spreading system.

As a result, to the northeast of the subducting edge lies the continuous arc of volcanos – also known as the Central America Volcanic Arc – stretching from Costa Rica to Guatemala, and a belt of earthquakes that extends farther north, into Mexico.

The boundary between the two plates appears to lack a definite transform fault, yet they are regarded as distinct.