Pontus plate

This plate was approximately a quarter the size of the Pacific Ocean and once existed beneath an ancient ocean known as the Pontus Ocean.
The rediscovery of the Pontus plate was accidental, occurring during a study of rocks in Borneo. Researchers had originally been studying the Pacific plate when they came across rock fragments that didn’t fit with known plates’ magnetic properties.
Computer modelling eventually revealed that these rock fragments belonged to a previously unknown tectonic plate, the Pontus plate.
This plate formed at least 160 million years ago, possibly even earlier, and eventually disappeared as it was subducted beneath the Australian and Chinese plates.
This discovery sheds light on Earth’s geological history and the movement of tectonic plates.