A landmass which consists of the traditional continents of Europe and Asia, that is the Eurasian continent with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent, and the area east of the Chersky Range in the East Siberia, is a part of the Eurasian Plate. Also, the oceanic crust of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge which extends westward and the Gakkel Ridge which extends northward is included in the Eurasian Plate.
We all know that the earth was composed of giant tectonic plates. When Pangea, the supercontinent, gradually split into different landmasses, the rivers from both the northern Eurasian landmass, namely Angara, and the southern Indian landmass, namely Gondwana, deposited huge amount of sediments into the shallow sea Tethys. These two plates moved closer and closer and gradually about 70 million years ago, collided with each other, raising the longitudinal ridges and valleys. However, after about 25 million years ago, during the Middle Miocene Period, the Indian Plate pushed against the Eurasian Plates, leading the Himalayan ranges to rise further. This was a major phase which led to the formation of the low Shivalik ranges and occurred about 600,000 years ago.
With a total size of 67,800,000 km, the Eurasian Plate moves approximately 2.5cm a year. This is at the boundary that separates the Eurasian Plate and the North American Plate.
The tectonic drift of the Eurasian and North American plates connect the geology of Silfra and the Thingvellir valley. As the plates drift about 2cm apart every year, it builds up a tension between them and this tension releases through a major earthquake that occurs in about every ten years, forming cracks and fissures in Thingvellir. Started with a deep cave where most of the underwater wells nourish it, Silfra is known for one of the largest cracks. In addition, the Eurasian Plate is important because its collision with the Indian Plate has led to the formation of Himalayas which rise and are the well known mountain ranges.
The North American and the Eurasian Plates drifted apart about an inch a year. This has led to a gap between these two plates. However, this dismantling has caused the area riddled with faults, valleys, volcanoes and hot springs. The stretch of the Eurasian Plate is the nexus which has led to many new and emerging underwater volcanoes in the Black Sea and off the coast of Turkey. It was a suspected eruption of a submerged volcano and is reported to have damaged a fibre-optic cable, which connects the southern Russian city of Novorossiysk with the Georgian port of Poti.
