Introduction
The planet’s rigid outer shell is partitioned into a system of major tectonic plates—commonly rendered on global plate‑tectonic charts (for example, NASA’s Plate Tectonics map)—each representing a coherent segment of the lithosphere that moves as a mechanical unit. Individual plates are on the order of 100 km thick, a thickness defined by the rigid crust plus the uppermost mantle and commonly referred to as the mechanical lithosphere. The uppermost layer of each plate is composed predominantly of two contrasting crustal types: denser, mafic oceanic crust (historically termed “sima”) and less dense, felsic continental crust (“sial”). This compositional and density dichotomy—basaltic oceanic rock versus granitic continental rock—governs fundamental behaviors such as subduction, buoyancy, and isostatic adjustment at plate margins.
Interactions between plates occur along three principal types of boundaries. Divergent boundaries, expressed as mid‑ocean ridges or continental rift zones, are locales of lithospheric extension and the generation of new oceanic crust. Convergent boundaries take the form of subduction zones—where denser lithosphere sinks beneath an overriding plate—and continental collision zones, where buoyant continental blocks compress and thicken the crust to form major mountain belts. Transform boundaries accommodate predominantly horizontal, lateral motion between plates and are classified by shear sense: dextral (right‑lateral) or sinistral (left‑lateral); such faults transfer displacement without substantial creation or destruction of lithosphere. Together, these plate types and boundary processes form the dynamic framework of Earth’s surface evolution.
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Current plates
Tectonic plates are mechanically coherent fragments of Earth’s outer shell whose lateral extents can be delineated in a practical, though often approximate, manner rather than by precisely fixed lines. Plates are commonly grouped by scale into major (primary), minor (secondary), and micro (tertiary) categories, terms that signify decreasing areal extent and relative tectonic importance. This tripartite classification is a pragmatic convention—reflecting differences in lateral extent, lithospheric structure, and geodynamic influence—but it is not a rigid taxonomic hierarchy because regional geological evidence and interpretive criteria vary. Plate boundaries are identified through multiple geological and geophysical indicators (for example, patterns of earthquakes, volcanic chains, relative motions from kinematic and geodetic data, and contrasts in lithospheric properties), which explains why many boundaries are described as “roughly” rather than precisely definable. The existence and interaction of plates at all three scales constitute the fundamental framework for understanding the distribution and evolution of continents and ocean basins, the development of mountain belts, and the global patterns of seismicity and volcanism.
Major plates
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A detailed global map of tectonic plates delineates the large lithospheric slabs that underlie most continental and oceanic crust; in this inventory a “major plate” is any tectonic plate with an area exceeding 20,000,000 km2 (7.7 million sq mi). By that criterion, the Pacific Plate is the largest, covering about 103,300,000 km2 (39,900,000 sq mi) and dominating the Pacific basin and its principal spreading and subduction systems. Other very large plates include the North American Plate (~75,900,000 km2 / 29,300,000 sq mi) and the Eurasian Plate (~67,800,000 km2 / 26,200,000 sq mi), which together account for extensive northern-hemisphere continental and adjacent oceanic lithosphere.
The African Plate (~61,300,000 km2 / 23,700,000 sq mi) and the Antarctic Plate (~60,900,000 km2 / 23,500,000 sq mi) each encompass continental crust and significant surrounding seafloor. The Indo‑Australian composite (~58,900,000 km2 / 22,700,000 sq mi) reflects a historical fusion of Indian and Australian components; in some classifications the Australian Plate is treated separately—since its separation roughly 3 million years ago—with an area of about 47,000,000 km2 (18,000,000 sq mi). The South American Plate covers roughly 43,600,000 km2 (16,800,000 sq mi), forming the principal lithosphere of South America and adjacent Atlantic margins.
By contrast, the Indian Plate (≈11,900,000 km2 / 4,600,000 sq mi) falls below the major-plate threshold but remains important in discussions of past collision and ongoing interaction with Australian and Eurasian lithosphere. Collectively, these major plates constitute the principal structural framework of Earth’s surface, governing the locations of continents, ocean basins, and the principal tectonic boundary processes.
Minor plates
For the purposes of this list, “minor plates” are defined as tectonic plates whose surface area lies between 1,000,000 km2 and 20,000,000 km2. This threshold captures continental fragments and sizeable oceanic plates that are often omitted from simplified global maps, because many do not contain large contiguous landmasses despite having important regional tectonic roles.
In East Asia and adjacent regions several continental fragments and microplates form a complex mosaic of interactions. The Amurian and Okhotsk microplates occupy parts of eastern and northeastern Asia respectively; although their precise areas are not given here, both lie between the Eurasian interior and Pacific-related systems and influence intraplate deformation and boundary shear. The Yangtze block is a coherent continental fragment that underlies much of southern China and contributes to regional strain partitioning. The Sunda plate underlies the Sunda Shelf and parts of mainland Southeast Asia and forms the stable core beneath the Sunda Arc. The Burma plate (≈1,100,000 km2; 420,000 sq mi) occupies Myanmar and nearby offshore regions and mediates convergence between the Indian, Sunda and Philippine Sea domains.
The Indian, Arabian and Somali plates are continental-sized fragments whose motions have shaped major orogenic and rift systems. The Indian plate (≈11,900,000 km2; 4,600,000 sq mi) is the northward-moving continental fragment whose collision with Eurasia produced the Himalayas. The Arabian plate (≈5,000,000 km2; 1,900,000 sq mi) constitutes the tectonic foundation of the Arabian Peninsula and interacts along margins with Africa, Eurasia and India. The Somali plate (≈16,700,000 km2; 6,400,000 sq mi) represents the African fragment rifting eastward along the East African Rift and borders the Arabian and adjacent oceanic plates.
In the oceans, a number of minor plates play key roles in subduction, back-arc spreading and transform faulting. The Nazca plate (≈15,600,000 km2; 6,000,000 sq mi) is an oceanic plate subducting beneath South America and driving Andean uplift and intense seismicity along the Peru–Chile Trench. The Caribbean plate (≈3,300,000 km2; 1,300,000 sq mi) occupies the Caribbean and parts of Central America and is bounded by subduction zones and transform systems between North and South America. In the western and southwestern Pacific, smaller oceanic plates such as the Caroline (≈1,700,000 km2; 660,000 sq mi), Cocos (≈2,900,000 km2; 1,100,000 sq mi), Philippine Sea (≈5,500,000 km2; 2,100,000 sq mi), New Hebrides (≈1,100,000 km2; 420,000 sq mi) and various arc-related fragments participate in complex convergent and back-arc dynamics that generate island arcs and volcanism.
Finally, the Scotia plate (≈1,600,000 km2; 620,000 sq mi) occupies the Scotia Sea between South America and Antarctica and serves as a mediating element between Antarctic and South American motions, accommodating transform and subduction interactions in the southern oceanic realm.
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Collectively, these minor plates—whether continental fragments or oceanic bodies—are essential for understanding regional tectonics: their relative motions govern orogeny, rifting, subduction-driven volcanism and the partitioning of strain at plate boundaries even when they are not prominent on generalized global maps.
Microplates
Microplates are here defined as tectonic plates with areas under 1,000,000 km2. On generalized plate maps they are often drawn adjacent to larger, principal plates and, within active orogens, further subdivision yields numerous small tectonic units (for example the Apulian/Adriatic block, Explorer, Gorda and the Philippine Mobile Belt). Contemporary tectonic models increasingly regard microplates as the primary building blocks of the lithosphere, with the conventionally recognized “major” plates representing amalgamations of many such elements; one global proposal subdivides continents, oceans and mobile belts into on the order of 1,200 smaller plates.
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The recent Global Tectonic Map that adopts this fine-scale subdivision uses standardized symbology to distinguish terrane and boundary types: green for terrane boundaries within continental blocks, cyan for oceanic terranes, orange for terranes in mobile belts, blue for oceanic transform faults, red for continental and mountain-belt fault zones, purple for principal subduction and suture zones, and orange dots for volcanic centres.
Microplates occur in every major plate domain. Within and adjacent to the African domain are oceanic and continental microplates such as Lwandle, Rovuma (one of several contributors to the Nubian–Somali partition), Victoria and the Danakil block at the Afar triple junction. The Antarctic domain is subdivided into East and West Antarctic elements with smaller units like the Shetland microplate off the Antarctic Peninsula. Associated with the Australian plate and the southwest Pacific are a range of small plates and proposed minor plates including Capricorn, Macquarie, Kermadec, Woodlark, Maoke, Futuna, Niuafo’ou, Tonga and the proposed Capricorn beneath the Indian Ocean.
In the Pacific and eastern Pacific realms numerous very small oceanic blocks exist: examples include the Balmoral Reef, Conway Reef, Easter, Galápagos and Juan Fernández microplates, plus the Juan de Fuca, Explorer and Gorda plates which are northern remnants of older plate systems. The Philippine Sea and adjacent western Pacific contain the Mariana plate and the complex Philippine Mobile Belt. Near South America the Nazca system hosts embedded plates such as Coiba and Malpelo.
The Caribbean–Central American region comprises several boundary and intra-plate microplates (Gonâve, Hispaniola and its north subplate, Puerto Rico–Virgin Islands, Panama and South Jamaica), while off western Mexico the small Rivera plate is spatially associated with the Cocos region. The Eurasian domain and the Mediterranean–Asian corridor contain numerous small plates and terranes — e.g., Adriatic/Apulian, Aegean (Hellenic), Anatolian, Azores, Banda Sea, Timor, Iberian (now largely merged with Eurasia), Iranian, Halmahera, Molucca (now largely subducted), Sangihe, Okinawa, Pelso and the Tisza and Hreppar microplates.
Other regional examples include the Scotia system (with the South Sandwich plate), the Somali/Indian Ocean region where Madagascar is treated as a distinct tectonic remnant of Gondwana, and the South American domain with smaller Andean units such as the Altiplano, Falklands microplate and the North Andes plate. In the North American realm candidate microplates include the Greenland block and the Queen Elizabeth Islands subplate. Collectively, these occurrences illustrate the ubiquity of small tectonic blocks and the value of fine‑scale subdivision for resolving lithospheric structure and boundary dynamics.
Over geological time the lithosphere has been repeatedly reconfigured as plates were added, split, or removed from the surface system. Individual plates and fragments typically follow one of three broad fates: they become welded onto larger plates or continental masses by accretion; they break apart through rifting into smaller units; or they are consumed at convergent margins by subduction and crustal shortening. The cumulative effect of these processes is a complex assemblage of extinct, reworked and re‑sutured lithospheric pieces preserved within modern continents and ocean basins.
Among the preserved relics are cratons, the deeply stabilized cores of continents that have survived multiple tectonic cycles. Where their ancient crystalline roots are exposed at the surface they form shields, direct windows into long-lived continental basement. By contrast, terranes are crustal blocks that originated elsewhere and were transported and attached to a different plate; they represent accreted fragments whose lithospheric completeness and origin may vary and therefore need not have been independent plates. Microplates are distinct insofar as they are small, independently mobile lithospheric units; like terranes they may become sutured to larger plates, but their identity as discrete plates (albeit small) differentiates them from tectonostratigraphic fragments.
The processes that create and destroy plates leave diagnostic geological signatures—suture zones marking former plate boundaries, mismatched terrane assemblages, exposed shields and buried cratonic keels among them. Interpreting these features provides the primary record for reconstructing palaeogeography and the plate‑tectonic evolution of Earth.
African plate — Precambrian cratonic framework
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The crustal keel of the African plate is a mosaic of long‑lived cratonic nuclei and reworked continental domains that preserve Archaean–Proterozoic histories of crust formation and plate assembly. These stable blocks constitute the lithospheric basement upon which younger Phanerozoic cover and rift systems are superimposed, and they provide key reference units for palaeogeographic reconstructions of early supercontinents.
Among these ancient elements is Atlantica, an early Proterozoic continental fragment formed roughly two billion years ago that represents an internally coherent landmass used in reconstructions of Archaean–Proterozoic plate amalgamation. The central African Congo (Zaire) craton forms a major heartland of the continent’s basement, extending across parts of Angola, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Sudan and Zambia; it includes subsidiary domains such as the Bangweulu block in Zambia. The name Zaire craton is a synonymous variant encountered in the literature.
To the west, the West African craton constitutes a principal continental nucleus that underlies much of western and north‑western Africa and has been a persistent feature of West African palaeogeography. In southern Africa the Kaapvaal and Kalahari cratons provide two complementary Archaean–Proterozoic cores: the Kaapvaal preserves some of the oldest exposed crustal rocks and tectonothermal records, whereas the Kalahari craton represents a broad, stable lithospheric mantle and crustal domain beneath the Kalahari region. The Zimbabwe and Sebakwe proto‑cratons are additional southern African nuclei; the Sebakwe unit is recognized as a proto‑cratonic nucleus that records early crustal stabilization within present‑day Zimbabwe.
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The Tanzania craton occupies a central position in East Africa as an old, stable block that was integral to Precambrian terrane assembly in the region. By contrast, the Saharan metacraton in north‑central Africa preserves ancient cratonic roots that have been substantially modified by subsequent tectonothermal events; its “metacraton” designation reflects this partial overprinting and is important for studies of craton destabilization and reworking.
Collectively, these cratons and reworked domains form the structural and tectonic foundation of the African plate, recording a complex history of early continental growth, juxtaposition and modification that underpins continental evolution and modern lithospheric architecture.
Antarctic plate
The tectonic evolution of Antarctica reflects long-term interactions between a stable continental core and a suite of once-independent lithospheric blocks. The East Antarctic Shield (East Antarctic Craton) constitutes the ancient, rigid heart of the continent; this cratonic nucleus underlies most of the landmass and has acted as a basement against which younger plates and fragments have been juxtaposed and welded.
Among those fragments, the Phoenix Plate functioned as a separate plate for an extended portion of Earth history—spanning much of the Paleozoic through into the late Cenozoic—and its fragmentation and dispersal profoundly influenced the configuration of the Antarctic margin. Detached remnants of that system include the Charcot microterrane, a piece derived from the Phoenix Plate that is now incorporated into the Antarctic Peninsula, exemplifying microplate break-up and accretion at high southern latitudes. Similarly, the Bellingshausen Plate is recognized as a former discrete lithospheric block that was ultimately accreted to the Antarctic Plate; its fusion contributed to the present continuity of Antarctic lithosphere and to the reconfiguration of southern plate boundaries. Together, these events—fragmentation of long-lived plates and subsequent accretion onto the East Antarctic craton—have been central to assembling the contemporary tectonic architecture of Antarctica.
Eurasian plate — tectonic components and evolution
The Eurasian plate comprises a mosaic of ancient cratons, displaced microcontinents, sutured terranes and orogenic belts whose juxtaposition records a long history of continental growth, rifting and collision from the Precambrian through the Phanerozoic. These elements preserve relicts of both Archaean–Proterozoic basement and younger Paleozoic–Mesozoic tectonism, and their present distribution underpins the structural architecture of Europe and Asia.
Several microcontinental fragments rifted from Gondwana and later accreted to the Eurasian margin. Armorica consists of continental fragments now embedded in western Europe (parts of France, Germany, Spain and Portugal) and records translation of Gondwanan crust into European orogenesis. Avalonia is a Paleozoic microcontinent whose accreted terranes are exposed in eastern North America and northwestern Europe (e.g., Canada, Britain, Ireland, northeastern USA) and plays a central role in reconstructions of early Paleozoic convergence. The Cimmerian terrane belt represents an east–west string of Gondwanan-derived fragments that migrated northward to become preserved today across Anatolia, Iran, Afghanistan, Tibet, Indochina and Malaya, marking a major pathway of continental addition to Eurasia.
The East European Craton (Baltica) and its component shields form the foundational nucleus of northern and eastern Europe. The Baltic plate history spans Cambrian–Carboniferous activity and is underlain by the Baltic Shield (Fennoscandian Shield). Internal domains — the Sarmatian Craton, Ukrainian Shield and Volgo‑Uralian craton — record long-lived cratonic stability, internal sutures and basement architecture. Closely related are the Fennoscandian cratonic blocks (Karelian, Kola and Belomorian cratons), which make up the ancient northern margin beneath Scandinavia and adjacent areas.
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Central and western Europe bear the imprint of Variscan (Hercynian) orogeny, a complex belt of colliding plates and microcontinents. The Variscan domain comprises multiple tectonic zones and terranes — including Moldanubian, Rhenohercynian and Saxothuringian complexes, Moravo‑Silesian and Teplá‑Barrandian units, the Midlands Microcraton, Ossa‑Morena and South Portuguese plates — with highlands such as the Massif Central recording uplift and internal deformation attendant to late Paleozoic convergence.
Along the North Atlantic margin, exposures of Archaean lithosphere (the North Atlantic Craton) in Greenland, Labrador and northwestern Scotland provide constraints on early continental assembly and subsequent margin evolution. Complementing these are oceanic and marginal fragments related to Tethyan and Alpine systems — for example the Piemont‑Liguria oceanic fragments, the Proto‑Alps terrane and the Valais domain — which preserve records of ocean basin closure, subduction and Alpine nappe transport.
Across Asia the plate incorporates a series of large cratonic blocks and accreted provinces that document intracontinental assembly. Central and northern Asian units such as Kazakhstania, the Junggar region, the Tarim craton and the Siberian Craton form major crustal provinces that reflect Phanerozoic suturing and older crustal growth. East Asian basement domains — the North China, East China and Yangtze cratons, together with exotic terranes such as Lhasa — represent distinct Precambrian–early Phanerozoic blocks that were progressively juxtaposed during continental assembly.
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Numerous smaller named terranes and microplates (e.g., Hunic, Moravo‑Silesian, Teplá‑Barrandian, Ossa‑Morena, Proto‑Alps) supplement this framework; although locally variable in extent and preservation, these discrete blocks are critical for detailed reconstructions of plate motions, orogenic sequences and basin evolution. Collectively, cratonic remnants and shields (Belomorian, Yakutai, Volgo‑Uralian, Ukrainian Shield and others) constitute the preserved basement mosaic of Eurasia and provide the primary record of Archaean–Proterozoic crustal formation subsequently reworked by successive orogenic cycles.
Indo‑Australian plate: cratonic and terrane architecture
Chronostratigraphic and geological-age maps that show the distribution of continental basement and younger cover provide the primary basis for comparing stable lithospheric cores and later accreted orogenic units across the Australian and Indian segments of the Indo‑Australian plate. These cartographic products delineate cratons, shields, terranes and submerged continental fragments, and thereby illuminate the spatial arrangement and relative ages of the continent‑building elements.
In Australia the Western Australian (Australian) Shield represents an extensive region of ancient, tectonically stable continental lithosphere that underpins much of western and central Australia. Within this shield several principal Archean–Proterozoic cratons form the continent’s foundational cores: the Yilgarn and Pilbara cratons in Western Australia, the Gawler Craton in central South Australia, and named interior blocks such as the Central, Curnamona and Altjawarra cratons. Each of these long‑lived crustal blocks is mapped as a discrete piece of crystalline basement that contrasts with surrounding younger orogenic belts and sedimentary cover. Along Australia’s southeast margin the Narooma terrane records an accreted, structurally distinct crustal fragment that is separate from adjacent cratonic provinces.
Beyond the emergent continents, the region also includes largely submerged continental fragments: Zealandia is a continental mass mostly below sea level whose tectonic expression includes features such as the Moa plate and the Lord Howe Rise that define its internal elements and margins. These submerged domains are interpreted as continental crustal fragments related to the plate’s broader lithospheric mosaic.
The Indian Shield (peninsular India) is similarly composed of multiple, spatially discrete cratons that together form the stable core of the subcontinent. Chronostratigraphic mapping identifies the Aravalli, Bastar, Bhandara, Bundelkhand, Dharwar and Singhbhum cratons as the principal basement units; the Dharwar craton in southern India is notable among them as a major Archean–Proterozoic block that helps define the shield’s southern sector. The arrangement and boundaries of these Indian cratons encapsulate the peninsular chronostratigraphic architecture and are central to reconstructions of India’s tectonic assembly.
The North American plate is built upon a stable Precambrian core—commonly referred to as the Laurentian (or North American) craton—that underlies much of Canada and the United States and served as the platform upon which younger Phanerozoic terranes were welded. This cratonic nucleus comprises multiple Archean and Proterozoic crustal blocks that together form the Canadian Shield and adjacent basement provinces. Principal cratonic constituents include the Superior Craton, a dominant Archean block forming much of the Shield; the Rae and Hearne cratons, juxtaposed northern Archean domains; the Slave Craton, an exposed, highly metamorphosed fragment in northwestern Canada; and the Sask Craton in the Saskatchewan region. The Wyoming Craton constitutes a major Archean–Proterozoic element beneath parts of the western United States and adjacent Canada.
Beyond these primary blocks, the North Atlantic Craton records an older Archean crustal domain now discontinuously exposed in Greenland, Labrador and northwestern Scotland, with the Nain Province representing a distinct Labrador portion of that cratonic exposure. Sclavia is recognized as a Late Archean supercratonic nucleus within Canadian basement geology, reflecting large-scale early continental assembly processes.
Superimposed on this stable basement is a mosaic of exotic terranes, microcontinents and regional tectonic blocks accreted during Paleozoic–Mesozoic orogenies. Avalonia exemplifies a Paleozoic microcontinent whose dispersed fragments occur today in eastern North America and northwestern Europe and whose transport and collision explain correlated Appalachian and British Isles stratigraphy. Smaller displaced blocks such as the Carolina terrane (extending from central Georgia to central Virginia), and regional crustal blocks tied to the southeastern and southwestern margins (often termed the Florida and Mexican blocks, respectively), as well as Newfoundland and Nova Scotia terranes, record the complex suturing, translation and truncation of crustal fragments along the eastern Laurentian margin.
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Oceanic plates and former ocean basins played a crucial role in margin construction and modification. The Farallon plate, once subducting beneath western North America, was progressively broken apart into remnant plates including the Cocos, Juan de Fuca (and Gorda), Rivera, Nazca and Explorer plates during Mesozoic–Cenozoic reorganization. Older oceanic plates such as the Intermontane and Insular plates contributed island-arc and oceanic crustal material to the Cordilleran accretionary complex (the Intermontane plate interacting with the margin from about 195 Ma), while broader Pacific-affiliated plates like Izanagi feature in Mesozoic–Paleozoic reconstructions of western Pacific and adjacent continental margin evolution.
Collectively, the North American plate comprises an Archean–Proterozoic cratonic framework overlain and fringed by accreted microcontinents, terranes and remnant oceanic fragments. These components record a long history of craton stabilization, rifting and continental growth through terrane accretion and subduction-driven reorganization.
South American plate — Precambrian cratons and shields
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Cratons and shields form the long-lived, internally stable core of continental lithosphere and constitute the Precambrian basement that underpins much of South America. These discrete continental blocks exert first-order control on regional tectonics, the reconstruction of past paleogeographies, the distribution of surface relief and drainage, and the location and evolution of sedimentary basins across the continent.
The Amazonian Craton is a major, stable Precambrian block that underlies extensive portions of northern and central Brazil and provides a principal component of the continent’s structural framework in that sector. Adjacent to it in the northeast, the Guiana Shield exposes some of the oldest continental crust in South America across Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela; as a coherent shield it helps define topographic highs and drainage divides in the northeastern margin of the continent.
In the south and southeast, the Río de la Plata Craton constitutes a medium‑sized, relatively stable lithospheric nucleus beneath Uruguay, eastern Argentina and parts of southern Brazil, forming the basement for many Phanerozoic cover sequences and influencing regional structural patterns. The São Francisco Craton occupies a large tract of eastern Brazil and represents another principal Precambrian element whose crustal history is central to interpretations of regional crustal growth and subsequent sedimentary deposition.
Along the western interior of the continent, the Arequipa–Antofalla cratonic fragment spans portions of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru; its presence within the Andean realm is a key factor in the crustal architecture and tectonic evolution of the western margin. Collectively, these cratons and shields define the heterogeneous, blocky nature of the South American lithospheric keel and provide the tectonic template on which younger orogenic, erosional and depositional processes have been superimposed.