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Juan de Fuca Plate |
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My Blogs (olelog) are mainly based on my daily
reading of earth science news.
Here on whatonearth.olehnielsen.dk I try to weave
some of the pieces together to a greater whole with added background info.
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The Juan de Fuca Plate, named after the explorer, is a tectonic plate arising
from the Juan de Fuca Ridge, and subducting under the northerly portion of the
western side of the North American Plate. It is bounded on the south by the Blanco
Fracture Zone, on the north by the Nootka Fault, and along the west by the Pacific
Plate. The Juan de Fuca Plate was originally part of the once-vast Farallon
Plate, now largely subducted under the North American Plate, and has since
fractured into three pieces. The plate name is in some references applied to the
entire plate east of the undersea spreading zone, and in other references only
to the central piece, whereas the piece to the south is known as the Gorda
Plate and the piece to the north is known as the Explorer Plate. The
separate pieces are demarcated by the large offsets of the undersea spreading
zone manifested in the above mentioned fracture zone and fault. This subducting
plate system has formed the volcanic Cascade Range, the Cascade Volcanoes and
the Pacific Ranges, which is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, along the west
coast of North America from southern British Columbia to northern California.
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USGS image |
Between 5 and 7 million years ago, the Explorer Plate broke off from the Juan
De Fuca Plate, along a transform now known as the Nootka Fault.
Juan de Fuca Plate treated in Olelog
p.m.
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