Farallon Plate remnants
No Strings Attached
- Author:
- Hans-Peter Bunge, Stuart Snodgrass
- Subject:
- Science and Technology
- Institution Name:
- NASA
- Collection:
- NASA GSFC Scientific Visualization Studio
- Grade Level:
- Secondary, Post-secondary
- Abstract:
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. 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. Next, mantle motions pulled North America westward over Farallon, and the plate scraped along the bottom of the continent - for fifteen hundred kilometers. As North America continued its westward trek, Farallon settled to the bottom of the mantle.
- Course Type:
- Learning Module
- Languages:
- English
- Material Type:
- Other
- Media Format:
- Graphics/Photos, Text/HTML, Video
- Technical Requirements:
- Real player
- Conditions of Use:
-
Public Domain
Please give credit to NASA GSFC Scientific Visualization Studio
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