What will happen when the Juan de Fuca plate slips under the North American plate?

What will happen when the Juan de Fuca plate slips under the North American plate?

Oceanic crust forms by eruptions along the Juan de Fuca Ridge. As the Juan de Fuca Plate drifts eastward, it cools, becomes more dense, and eventually dives under the less dense North American Plate at the Cascadia Trench.

Is the Juan de Fuca plate subducting under the North American plate?

The Juan de Fuca Plate is a small tectonic plate (microplate) generated from the Juan de Fuca Ridge that is subducting under the northerly portion of the western side of the North American Plate at the Cascadia subduction zone. It is named after the explorer of the same name.

What is happening at the subduction zone of the Juan de Fuca and North American plates quizlet?

What is happening at the subduction zone of the Juan de Fuca and North American Plates? One plate is being pulled under another.

What formed the Juan de Fuca Ridge?

Geologic history Approximately 30 million years ago, the Farallon Plate, being driven outwards by the Pacific-Farallon ridge, was pushed underneath the North American Plate, splitting what remained into the Juan de Fuca Plate to the North and the Cocos Plate and Nazca Plate to the South.

Why is the Juan de Fuca plate so small?

For now, we can say that the Juan de Fuca plate is a shrinking remnant of the Farallon plate, which was introduced in Chapters 5 and 17 as the paleo-Pacific plate that underthrust the Cordillera to create the Laramide orogeny and then sank to form the ignimbrite flare-up (Fig. 5.13).

Is the Juan de Fuca plate getting bigger or smaller?

The Juan de Fuca plate offshore of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia is small – about the size of California and 50-70 kilometers thick – but “big enough to generate magnitude 9 earthquakes” as it’s shoved under the continental North American plate, Allen said.

What is the biggest tectonic plate?

Pacific Plate

What happens if a tectonic plate breaks?

Plates occasionally collide and fuse, or they can break apart to form new ones. When the latter plates break apart, a plume of hot rock can rise from deep within the Earth’s interior, which can cause massive volcanic activity on the surface.