What is the Juan de Fuca Ridge spreading center?

The Juan de Fuca Ridge is a mid-ocean spreading center and divergent plate boundary stretching about 500 kilometres off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. It separates the Pacific Plate to the west from the Juan de Fuca Plate to the east. As a remnant of the larger Pacific-Farallon Ridge, it pushes the Juan de Fuca Plate beneath the North American Plate to form the Cascadia Subduction Zone.

What we know

• The Juan de Fuca Ridge is an undersea mid-ocean spreading center and divergent plate boundary located off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. [1, 2]
• The ridge runs generally northward for approximately 500 kilometres and separates the Pacific Plate and the Juan de Fuca Plate. [2]
• It is a surviving section of the larger Pacific-Farallon Ridge, which was previously the primary spreading center of the region. [2]
• The ridge activity pushes the Juan de Fuca Plate underneath the North American Plate, creating the Cascadia Subduction Zone. [2, 3]

Where to go next

• what followedWhat is the Juan de Fuca microplate?
• what caused itHow does the Cascadia Subduction Zone work?
• the bigger pictureWhat was the Farallon Plate?
• a case in pointWhere is the Juan de Fuca Channel located?
• how it workedHow do fracture zones form at mid-ocean ridges?
• an unexpected connectionHow is a tectonic plate named after an explorer?The Juan de Fuca Ridge and its resulting tectonic plate share their name with a maritime explorer who claimed to find the Strait of Anián.

Sources

• [1]Juan de Fuca Ridge (Wikidata Q1710311) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Juan de Fuca Ridge · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Juan de Fuca plate · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Juan de Fuca Channel · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]List of fracture zones · CC BY-SA 4.0