Watch the video by Wendy Van Norden in the study forum below. In this video, you
ID: 105457 • Letter: W
Question
Watch the video by Wendy Van Norden in the study forum below. In this video, you will see the processes that formed the western United States. Notice how the various plates have moved over time.
Write a brief review of this video. Explain how shifting plates has shaped the land we live on. How were the Sierra Nevadas formed? How was the Coastal Range formed? Are these processes continuing today? How do you know? Can you speculate on why there is a valley between the Sierras and the Coastal Range?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjU2ueb1Rvg
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Explanation / Answer
In this video we obsorved the formation of western United States of North American plate. First we have to observe the trend of the plates and fault type there. This region is one of the most geologically young and tectonically active in North America. The generally rugged, mountainous landscape of this province provides evidence of ongoing mountain-building. This Province consists of active plates namely Pacific plate and North American plate. During the Cretaceous, the Pacific plate was colliding with the North American plate and being subducted, pushed down into the mantle, beneath it. As it was pushed into the mantle, it was subjected to higher pressures and temperatures become melt. The melt just kind of squeezed into the crust and slowly cooled there, forming various rocks in the granite category. This whole process thickened the entire crust in the area.
The North American plate is divided into two sub-plates juandefuca plate and cocos plate. The contact between these two plates formed a major tectonic fault 'Sanandreas', which is transform fault biggest on the continets. This fault still active and seperating the two plates. Here also formed a triple junction. These plates continous moving and streching the North American plate and causing blocks of the crust to move in different direction from their original position. This phenomenon was came to know by the studies of paleomagnetic studies.
The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Basin and Range Province. It is a chain of mountain ranges that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone"of NorthAmerica, CentralAmerica, SouthAmerica and Antarctica. The range started to uplift four M.A. ago, and erosion by glaciers exposed the granite and formed the light-colored mountains and cliffs that make up the range. The uplift caused a wide range of elevations and climates in the Sierra Nevada, which are reflected by the presence of five life zones. Uplift continues due to faulting caused by tectonic forces, creating spectacular fault block escarpments along the eastern edge of the southern Sierra.
The Coast Range and sometimes the Pacific Coast Range, is a mountain range along the Pacific Ocean. The oldest portions of the range are over 60 million years old, with volcanics and a forearc basin as the primary mountain building processes responsible for the range. It is part of the larger grouping known as the Pacific Coast Ranges that extends over much of the western edge of North America from California to Alaska. The Coast Ranges extend along the coast for about two-thirds of the length of the state". The highest of these peaks are in southern California. This mountain range is a north-south trending range consisting of valleys and ridges that lie along a series of parallel faults and folds. This set up means that many rivers run northward and empty into the ocean far from their source.
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