Week 5 - Converging Plates - Cory Hall

     The area I have always wanted to visit is the Cascade Mountain Range located in north western United States and south western Canada. This range travels through Oregon, Washington, and California in the U.S. and through British Columbia in Canada. The Cascades were formed from the Juan de Fuca Oceanic Plate converging with the North American Plate. The results of the two plates colliding caused thousands of smaller, short lived volcanoes to form and, relatively quickly, die out. This is because as the smaller and less dense oceanic plate pushed against the North American Plate, the oceanic plate subducted under the continental plate causing mass amounts of pressure to build up to form said volcanoes. This area is also located along the Ring of Fire, a horseshoe shape of oceanic trenches, volcanic arcs, and volcanic belts. The Cascades contain a reverse fault, causing the two plates to converge on each other, forcing the rocks to fold onto each other forming the path that would make way for volcanic activity.

                            Photo by Mary Anglin 4/3/2007