Juan de Fuca plate

This article is about the entire Juan de Fuca plate, or more specifically the middle fragment. For the northern fragment, see Explorer plate. For the southern fragment, see Gorda plate.
For the soccer cup, see Juan de Fuca Plate (soccer).
Juan de Fuca plate
Map of the Juan de Fuca plate
TypeMicro
Approximate area250,000 km2 (96,000 sq mi)[1]
Movement1North-east
Speed126 mm/year (1.0 in/year)
FeaturesPacific Ocean
1Relative to the African plate
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Cutaway of the Juan de Fuca plate
Image source: USGS

The Juan de Fuca plate is a small tectonic plate (microplate) generated from the Juan de Fuca Ridge that is subducting beneath the northerly portion of the western side of the North American plate at the Cascadia subduction zone.[2] It is named after the explorer of the same name. One of the smallest of Earth's tectonic plates, the Juan de Fuca plate is a remnant part of the once-vast Farallon plate, which is now largely subducted underneath the North American plate.

In plate tectonic reconstructions, the Juan de Fuca plate is referred to as the Vancouver plate between the break-up of the Farallon plate c. 55–52 Ma and the activation of the San Andreas Fault c. 30 Ma.[3]

  1. ^ "Sizes of Tectonic or Lithospheric Plates". Geology.about.com. 5 March 2014. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  2. ^ How Many Tectonic Plates Are There?
  3. ^ Seton, M.; Müller, R.D.; Zahirovic, S.; Gaina, C.; Torsvik, T.; Shephard, G.; Talsma, A.; Gurnis, M.; Maus, S.; Chandler, M. (2012). "Global continental and ocean basin reconstructions since 200Ma". Earth-Science Reviews. 113 (3): 212–270. Bibcode:2012ESRv..113..212S. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2012.03.002. Retrieved 23 October 2016.