But the same geological forces that threaten our lives with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions also nourish our spirits by forming our country’s spectacular mountains, valleys, and coastlines. A divergent boundary marks two plates that are moving apart from each other.A transform boundary occurs where two plates slide past each other.First, find the KEY in the green box located at the bottom of the map. Small, induced earthquakes associated with potash mining in southern Saskatchewan are sometimes recorded. The Yellowstone region was considered unsuitable for human development, yet it was important that it's amazing geological features not fall into private hands and be exploited. Eurasian Plate Here, the much smaller Juan de Fuca plate is sliding (subducting) beneath the continent (it is about 45 km beneath Victoria, and about 70 km beneath Vancouver). But the same processes also build magnificent landscapes—the Atlantic Coast, Appalachian Mountains, Teton Mountains, Crater Lake and Yellowstone, to name just a few—that humans and a dynamic Earth continually modify.
The St. Elias region of the southwest Yukon Territory, northwest British Columbia, and southeast Alaska is one of the most seismically active areas in Canada. But the same processes also build magnificent landscapes—the Atlantic Coast, Appalachian Mountains, Teton Mountains, Crater Lake and Yellowstone, to name just a few—that humans and a dynamic Earth continually modify. The type of crust that underlies the continents is called continental crust, while the type found under the oceans is called oceanic crust. By the late 1800s most of the land in the East was in private ownership, while much of the land in the West was (and still is) public. At some time in the future, these plates will snap loose, generating a huge offshore "subduction" earthquake - one similar to the 1964 M=9.2 Alaska earthquake, or the 1960 M=9.5 Chile earthquake.
The Cascadia Subduction Zone. It was thus a much easier task to set aside vast regions of incredible scenery in the West.Plate-tectonic processes result in earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, landslides, and other geological hazards that affect our lives and livelihoods. The oceanic plate to the west is the Pacific Plate, although in the geologic past there was another ocean plate to the west called the Farallon … Shaded relief map of the U.S. highlighting different tectonic settings. The type of crust that underlies the continents is called The border between two tectonic plates is called a A convergent boundary occurs where two plates are pushing toward each other. The boundary between these two giant plates is the Queen Charlotte fault - Canada's equivalent of the San Andreas fault. Note how the west coast of North America, in other words the California margin, has always been bordered by an ocean. Now, the nearest plate boundaries are more than a thousand miles away, and the landscapes are wearing away.Modified from “Parks and Plates: The Geology of our National Parks, Monuments and Seashores,” by Robert J. Lillie, New York, W. W. Norton and Company, 298 pp., 2005, www.amazon.com/dp/0134905172.The reasons we have more NPS land in the West are historical as well as physical. Current crustal deformation measurements in this area provide evidence for this model. Tectonic plates are pieces of Earth's crust and uppermost mantle, together referred to as the lithosphere. The outermost part of Earth's structure is known as the lithosphere. These plates move and interact with one another, driven by convectional forces within the Earth. Farther inland, there is minor seismicity between the Denalli and Tint ina fault systems. Letter codes are abbreviations for parks on Tectonic Settings pages and the Tectonic Settings—Master List on the Plate Tectonics & Our National Parks page. The Pacific Coast is the most earthquake-prone region of Canada. The area of the plate margin has experienced many large earthquakes, including a sequence of three earthquakes of magnitude 7.4 to 8.0 in the year 1899. The lithosphere consists of the crust and small portion of the upper mantle. Plate Tectonics in British Columbia Off the west coast of British Columbia there are examples of convergent, divergent and strike-slip or transform plate boundaries. As the Farallon plate pushed against North America, compressive forces created the Coast Ranges of California and pushed them up and over the San Joaquin Valley.Plate tectonics of course is a global process, and the images below show how the continents have moved over time. The earths crust is divided into several tectonic plates (shown below) that have over time moved across the surface of the earth. It borders the North and South American Plates and the Cocos Plate.
The largest earthquake ever recorded in this area was a magnitude 5.5 event on May 15, 1909 near the Canada - United States border. Convergent (colliding) boundaries are shown as a black line with teeth, divergent (spreading) boundaries as solid red lines, and transform (sliding alongside) boundaries as solid black lines. Divergent 3. Then, select each boundary name in the KEY to see its location. The west coast of is in fact a plate boundary that separates oceanic crust to the west from continental crust to the east. The ocean plate is not always moving though. 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. Convergent 2. The shifts and movements of these plates shape our landscape including the spectacular mountain ranges, valleys, and coastlines of our national parks. Mountainous terrain is much less amenable to human settlement, agriculture, industry, and commerce.