We Could Be Witnessing the Death of a Tectonic Plate, Says Earth Scientist
Last edited Thu Aug 8, 2019, 03:11 AM - Edit history (1)
By Laura Geggel, Associate Editor | August 7, 2019 01:36pm ET
The Juan de Fuca tectonic plate runs along the western coast
of the United States.
Credit: Shutterstock
A gaping hole in a dying tectonic plate beneath the ocean along the West Coast of the United States may be wreaking havoc at Earth's surface, but not in a way most people might expect.
This gash is so big it may trigger earthquakes off the coast of Northern California and could explain why central Oregon has volcanoes, a new study found.
The researchers in the new study aren't the first to suggest that the Michigan-size Juan de Fuca (pronounced "wahn de fyoo-kuh" ) plate has a tear. But thanks to a new, detailed dataset, they're the first to say so with certainty. [The Science of Plate Tectonics and Continental Drift (Infographic)]
"Where other people had debated whether or not it [the tear] was there, we can pretty confidently say that it's real," study lead researcher William Hawley, a doctoral student in the Earth and Planetary Science Department at the University of California, Berkeley, told Live Science.
More:
https://www.livescience.com/66117-tectonic-plate-tear-juan-de-fuca.html
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Always enjoy your science posts!
(Should I cue up Carole King? -- "I Feel the Earth Move Under My Feet"... 
)
"I Feel the Earth Mover Under My Feet" wouldn't have been as memorable!
