The Azores triple junction, centered at ~39.44°N, 29.83°W, occupies a segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) west of the Strait of Gibraltar within the Azores archipelago. It marks the mutual boundary of the North American, Eurasian and African (Nubian) plates and is formed where the broadly north–south MAR is intersected by the east–southeast–trending Terceira Rift. This configuration yields a classical R–R–R (ridge–ridge–ridge) triple junction of the T-type, in which three divergent plate boundaries meet with a T-shaped morphology produced by the orthogonal intersection of the MAR and the Terceira Rift.
Observed along-ridge spreading rates in the vicinity of the junction vary smoothly with latitude, decreasing from 22.9 ± 0.1 mm yr−1 at 40°N to 19.8 ± 0.2 mm yr−1 at 38°N rather than exhibiting an abrupt step at the nominal junction location. That continuous gradient implies the region does not act as a single geometrically rigid three‑plate point; instead the kinematics are better explained by either a diffuse boundary zone or the presence of a discrete microplate. Geodetic and tectonic constraints for the latter interpretation define an Azores Microplate whose northern intersection with the MAR lies between ~39.4°N and 40.0°N and whose southern intersection lies between ~38.2°N and 38.5°N. Relative to the Nubian (African) Plate, this inferred microplate translates roughly 2 mm yr−1 to the east–northeast along their mutual boundary.