- It is a new tectonic microplate off Ecuador’s coast in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
- Malpelo microplate is located west of the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador.
- It is wedged in-between the Nazca, Cocos, and Caribbean minor plates.
- It is linked to a nearby oceanic ridge along the Ring of Fire.
- Earlier it was assumed that most of the region east of the known Panama transform fault was part of the Nazca plate.
- But recent study showed that it is different tectonic plate moving independently in a different direction.
