the san andreas fault is the boundary between the north american and pacific plates in california.
in california is the boundary between the north american and pacific plates?
the san andreas fault
an earthquake is caused by a sudden slip on a fault. tectonic plates are always slowly moving, but they can get stuck at their edges due to friction. when the stress on the edge of a tectonic plate overcomes the friction, there is an earthquake that releases energy in waves that travel through the earth's crust and cause the shaking that is felt. for example, in california, there are two plates, the pacific plate and the north american plate. the pacific plate consists of most of the pacific ocean floor, and also includes baja california and the california coastline. the north american plate comprises most of the north american continent, including the inland parts of california, as well as parts of the atlantic and arctic oceans' floors. the primary boundary between these two plates is the san andreas fault. the san andreas fault is more than 800 miles long and extends to depths of at least 10 miles. many other smaller faults like the hayward (san francisco bay area) and the san jacinto (southern california) join with the san andreas to form the san andreas fault zone. the pacific plate grinds northwestward past the north american plate at a rate of about two inches per year.
earthquake weather
the time scale and sequence over which the river's present course and the grand canyon were formed is uncertain. before the gulf of california was formed around 12 to 5 million years ago by faulting processes along the boundary of the north american and pacific plates, the colorado flowed west to an outlet on the pacific ocean – possibly monterey bay on the central california coast, and may have played a role in the formation of the monterey submarine canyon. crustal extension in the basin and range province began about 20 million years ago and the modern sierra nevada began forming about 10 million years ago, eventually diverting the colorado southwards towards the gulf. as the colorado plateau continued to rise between 5 and 2.5 million years ago, the river maintained its ancestral course (as an antecedent stream) and began to cut the grand canyon. antecedence played a major part in shaping other peculiar geographic features in the watershed, including the dolores river's bisection of paradox valley in colorado and the green river's cut through the uinta mountains in utah.
colorado river