Which regions of Washington have been formed by plate tectonics and volcanic activity?

The region’s high risk of major earthquakes and volcanic eruptions is because of plate tectonics. The Cascade Mountains, Puget Sound lowlands and Willamette River Valley, and the coast ranges including the Olympic Mountains are all direct results of plate tectonics.

What are three major geological hazards people living in the Pacific Northwest face?

The region is part of the Ring of Fire: the subduction of the Pacific and Farallon Plates under the North American Plate is responsible for many of the area’s scenic features as well as some of its hazards, such as volcanoes, earthquakes, and landslides. The geology of the Pacific Northwest is vast and complex.

Which of the subduction zone volcanic provinces is the youngest?

Columbia River Basalt Group Stratigraphy and Deformation The Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) is the youngest large igneous flood basalt province on Earth and covers an area of ~160,000 km2, mostly in eastern Washington and Oregon, and western Idaho.

What tectonic plate is the Pacific Northwest on?

North American Plate
Most of these plates are of continental size. The Pacific Northwest is part of the North American Plate, which extends all the way across the United States and Canada to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean (Fig.

What causes western Washington to receive more rain than Eastern Washington?

Just as the Pacific Ocean and Olympic Mountains influence Western Washington, the Cascade Range affects the weather and climate in the eastern part of the state. The Cascades capture most of the rain that would otherwise fall in Eastern Washington.

Why is the Pacific region so geologically hazardous?

Why does the Pacific Northwest’s scenic splendor involve so much geologic violence? Both the region’s propensity for giant earthquakes and volcanic eruptions result from its geologic setting, a vulnerable position where two huge slabs of the earth’s crust collide about 30 to 90 miles off the Pacific coast.

Why does the Pacific Northwest have volcanoes and earthquakes?

In the Pacific Northwest, the association between earthquakes and volcanoes is much more fundamental- they both arise from the same large-scale interaction between two plates of the Earth’s crust. The Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington, and northern California) is experiencing rapid industrial and population growth.

What geological phenomena do we observe along the coast of Northern California Oregon and Washington?

The Cascadia Subduction Zone, extending from northern California through western Oregon and Washington to southern British Columbia, is a type of convergent plate boundary. Two parallel mountain ranges have been forming as a result of the Juan de Fuca Plate subducting beneath the edge of North America.

Why are there a group of active volcanoes in Pacific Northwest?

The distribution of volcanoes in the northwest and Alaska is the result of plate tectonics. When the subducted plate comes in contact with the hot asthenosphere beneath the continental plate conditions are right for the rocks in the asthenosphere to melt. The melt, called magma, rises to the surface to build volcanoes.

Why is the Pacific Plate moving north west?

The Pacific Plate is being moved north west due to sea floor spreading from the East Pacific Rise (divergent margin) in the Gulf of California. The North American Plate is being pushed west and north west due to sea floor spreading from the Mid Atlantic Ridge (divergent margin).

What tectonic plates make up North America?

The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and the Azores….

North American Plate
Speed1	15–25 mm (0.59–0.98 in)/year