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The 'Intermontane Islands' were a giant chain of active volcanic islands somewhere out in the Pacific Ocean during the Triassic time beginning around 245 million years ago. The giant chain of islands were 600 to 800 miles long and rode atop a microplate known as the Intermontane Plate. Over early Jurassic time the Intermontane Islands and the Pacific Northwest drew closer together as the continent moved west and the Intermontane Plate subducted. Eventually about 180 million years ago in the Mid-Jurassic time the last of the Intermontane Plate subducted and the Intermontane Islands collided with the Pacific Northwest. The Intermontane Islands were simply too big to sink beneath the continent so the Intermontane Islands welded onto the continent. Geologists call the ocean that existed between the Intermontane Islands and North America the Slide Mountain Ocean.

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See also

External links

See also

★ Island arc

★ Insular Islands

★ Intermontane Plate

★ Intermontane Belt

External links

★ Burke Museum - University of Washington