The Journey of Earth

The Australian Plate covers most of Oceania - including Australia and around half of New Zealand. It is one of the major plates and is the sixth largest with a surface area os 47 000 000 square kilometers. It is slipping underneath the Eurasian plate (convergent boundary) and has a transform boundary with the Pacific plate across New Zealand. The subduction that occurs between the Australian and Eurasian plate has created over 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia. This country has the highest number of volanoes in the world. In addition, due to the frequent earthquakes between the Indian and Australian plate, the Indo-Australian plate has broken apart and has now been reclassified as the Australian and Indian Plate.