What type of plate boundary is Farallon Plate?
microplate subduction system
The Farallon Plate is believed to have played a very important role in the development of the western North American continent. The interaction of the Farallon-North American plate boundary began in the Jurassic and is still occurring today in the form of the Juan de Fuca microplate subduction system.
Why does the Farallon Plate slide under the North American plate?
Many millions of years ago, the Farallon plate subducted beneath the entire west coast of North America. In this process, the San Andreas Fault was born, and the plate boundary transitioned from subduction (Farallon beneath North America) to strike-slip (Pacific Plate sliding against North America).
What type of boundary was found at the Farallon and North American boundary?
transform plate boundary
The transform plate boundary between the Pacific and North American Plates in western California formed fairly recently. About 200 million years ago, a large tectonic plate (called the Farallon Plate) started to subduct beneath the western edge of North America.
When did the Farallon Plate start driving itself under the North American plate?
Until around 30 million years ago all along the entire west coast from Mexico to British Columbia, the Farallon had been subducting under North America. Right around 30 million years ago the portion of the Farallon along California’s coast finished subducting.
Where was the Farallon Plate located forty million years ago?
Forty million years ago, a large tectonic plate, known as the Farallon Plate, was between the Pacific and North American plates. Subduction of the Farallon Plate beneath the entire West Coast created a line of volcanoes from Alaska to Central America.
How did the Farallon Plate form the Sierra Nevada?
Farallon started off normally enough. It plunged beneath the North American Plate at a forty-five degree angle. This process sprouted volcanoes to form the Sierra Nevada in what is now California.
What was the cause of the Farallon Plate sinking?
Farallon Plate sinks beneath North American Plate and scrapes along bottom of continent for 1,500 kilometers before sinking again. the Rockies are fifteen hundred kilometers, or one thousand miles, to the east. The cause must be the tectonic plate that built these mountains. Its name is Farallon.
What kind of material does the Farallon Plate transport?
The Farallon Plate is also responsible for transporting old island arcs and various fragments of continental crustal material rifted off from other distant plates and accreting them to the North American Plate. These fragments from elsewhere are called terranes (sometimes, “exotic” terranes).
