<P> The Pacific Plate contains an interior hot spot forming the Hawaiian Islands . </P> <P> Hillis and Müller are reported to consider the Bird's Head Plate to be moving in unison with the Pacific Plate . Bird considers them to be unconnected . </P> <P> The north - eastern side is a divergent boundary with the Explorer Plate, the Juan de Fuca Plate and the Gorda Plate forming respectively the Explorer Ridge, the Juan de Fuca Ridge and the Gorda Ridge . In the middle of the eastern side is a transform boundary with the North American Plate along the San Andreas Fault, and a boundary with the Cocos Plate . The south - eastern side is a divergent boundary with the Nazca Plate forming the East Pacific Rise . </P> <P> The southern side is a divergent boundary with the Antarctic Plate forming the Pacific - Antarctic Ridge . </P>

What type of plate boundary separates the pacific plate from the north american plate