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The 'Kula Plate' was an ancient oceanic plate, which began subducting under Alaska as Pangaea broke apart during the Jurassic period. The Kula Plate subducted under Alaska much like the Pacific Plate does. There was a triple junction of three ridges between the Kula Plate to the north, the Pacific Plate to the west and the Farallon Plate to the east called the Kula Ridge. The Kula Plate was subducted under the North American Plate at a relatively steep angle, so that the Canadian Rockies are primarily comprised of thrusted sedimentary sheets with relatively little contribution of continental uplift, while the American Rockies are characterized by significant continental uplift in response to the shallow subduction of the Farallon Plate. About 55 million years ago, the Kula Plate began an even more northerly motion. Riding on the Kula Plate was the Pacific Rim Terrane consisting of volcanic and sedimentary rocks. It was scraped off and plastered against the continental margin, forming what is today Vancouver Island. By 40 million years ago, the compressional force of the Kula Plate ceased. The existence of the Kula Plate was inferred from the westward bend in the alternating pattern of magnetic anomalies in the Pacific Plate.
There is a portion of the Kula Plate at the surface in the southern Bering Sea.

Contents

Name

See also

External links

References

Name

The name ''Kula'' is from a Native American word meaning ''all gone''.^[1]

See also

★ Farallon Plate

★ Kula Ridge

External links

★ Reconstruction of the Kula Plate

★ Kula Plate in the area of the present Northwestern United States

★ Kula plate when it separates from the Farallon plate

References

1. Scroll down to the section "The Farallon Plate Ruptures" on this site