Livescience.com: A tectonic plate that disappeared under North America millions of years ago is still visible in central California and Mexico, new research finds.
Livescience.com: A tectonic plate that disappeared under North America millions of years ago is still visible in central California and Mexico, new research finds.
The Farallon oceanic plate was once nestled between the Pacific and North American plates, which were converging around 200 million years ago at what would become the San Andreas fault along the Pacific coast. This slow geological movement forced the Farallon plate under North America, a process called subduction.
