Trobriand Plate
The Trobriand Plate was, and likely is, an independent microplate between New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. It has some unique geology, having the presence of the youngest metamorphic core complexes on earth. If there is presently active subduction between it and the Solomon Plate, at the Trobriand Trough, it continues to be an active microplate. Otherwise in the latest tectonic models it has merged with the Solomon Sea Plate, which becomes somewhat larger that predicted by Bird's 2003 model of Tectonic Plates. As a smaller Solomon Sea Plate is totally underwater, global positioning data can not resolve this issue. The area of the plate is associated with earthquake and volcanic activity as part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Geography The Trobriand Plate underlies south eastern parts of Papua New Guinea east of the Owen Stanley Range as it is separated in the range from the Australian Plate by the Owen Stanley Fault Zone This extends along the southern border of the Goodenough Basin and through the southern part of Normanby Island in the D'Entrecasteaux Islands. This fault zone then becomes the Nubara Transform Fault that strikes northeast towards the Solomon Islands but is only related to the Trobriand