The North Bismarck Plate is a small tectonic plate located in the Bismarck Sea

Bismarck Sea

The Bismarck Sea lies in the southwestern Pacific Ocean to the north of the island of Papua New Guinea and to the south of the Bismarck Archipelago and Admiralty Islands. Like the Bismarck archipelago, it is named in honour of the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck...

 off the northeast coast of New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

.

Tectonics

To the north it collides with the Pacific Plate

Pacific Plate

The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At 103 million square kilometres, it is the largest tectonic plate....

 and the Caroline Plate

Caroline Plate

The Caroline Plate is a small tectonic plate located north of New Guinea. It forms a subduction zone along the border with the Bird's Head Plate and the Woodlark Plate to the south. A transform boundary forms the northern border with the Pacific Plate. Along the border with the Philippine Sea Plate...

, part of the western part subducts under the Woodlark Plate

Woodlark Plate

The Woodlark Plate is a small tectonic plate located in the eastern half of the island of New Guinea. The Caroline plate subducts along its northern border while the Maoke Plate converges on the west, the Australian plate converges on the south, and on the east an undefined compressive zone which...

 of New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

, and it is separated from the South Bismarck Plate

South Bismarck Plate

The South Bismarck Plate is a small tectonic plate located in the southern Bismarck Sea. The eastern part of New Guinea and the island of New Britain are on this plate.-Tectonics:...

 by a divergent boundary

Divergent boundary

In plate tectonics, a divergent boundary or divergent plate boundary is a linear feature that exists between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other. Divergent boundaries within continents initially produce rifts which produce rift valleys...

 called Bismarck Seismic Sea Lineation (BSSL). The plate is moving easterly along with the Pacific plate. It is in a very seismically active area. Between the plate and the Caroline Plate

Caroline Plate

The Caroline Plate is a small tectonic plate located north of New Guinea. It forms a subduction zone along the border with the Bird's Head Plate and the Woodlark Plate to the south. A transform boundary forms the northern border with the Pacific Plate. Along the border with the Philippine Sea Plate...

 is the Manus Trench

Manus Trench

Manus Trench is a trench delineating the oceanic boundary between the Caroline Plate and North Bismarck Plates, in Papua New Guinea. The Kilinailai Trench, which looks as if it is a continuation of the Manus Trench, marks the boundary between the Pacific and North Bismarck Plates...

 and between the plate and the Pacific plate is the Kilinailai Trench

Kilinailai Trench

Kilinailai Trench is a trench delineating the oceanic boundary between the Pacific Plate and North Bismarck Plates, in Papua New Guinea. The Manus Trench, which looks as if it is a Western continuation of the Manus Trench, marks the boundary between the Caroline Plate and North Bismarck...

.