"The Farallon plate, which has since largely vanished underneath North America, helped build the West Coast by slamming large island chains into the continent as it disappeared."
"The new proposal suggests that the plate's vanishing act has created stresses that have opened paths for molten rock to reach the surface."
"Hotspots are generally associated with islands. The thinner oceanic crust makes it easier for molten material to find a path to the surface than it would if it had to work through the thick continental crust."
"That would seem to imply that Yellowstone is also powered by a mantle plume."
The Farallon plate, largely lost beneath North America, played a crucial role in shaping the continent and powering the Cascades volcanoes. Recent research indicates that the plate's disappearance has created stresses that allow molten rock to reach the surface, influencing the Yellowstone hotspot. This hotspot, unlike typical ones associated with islands, behaves similarly to oceanic hotspots, leaving a trail of eruptions across the Snake River Plain and suggesting it is also powered by a mantle plume.
Read at Ars Technica
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