Gorda Plate

views updated

Gorda Plate A minor lithospheric plate which is subducting under the North American Plate to the west of Oregon. The subduction zone is not marked by an oceanic trench, but inland there is the andesitic volcanic chain of the Cascade Mountains. The Gorda Plate is separated from the Juan de Fuca Plate by a transform fault; both are remnants of the once-large Farallon Plate.

More From encyclopedia.com