More recent studies by volcanologists associated with the Geological Survey of Canada have indicated that the subducted extension of the Nookta Fault may be the primary cause of the alkalic structure of the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field. The volcanism might have been mostly generated by asthenospheric upwelling possibly by displacement along the transform fault. If the transform fault had a section of vertical tearing to contain potentially different dip angles between the Explorer and Juan de Fuca Plates, the subducted plate asthenosphere may possibly flow upward into the mantle wedge. Similarly, if the displacement had a section of extension, a horizontal slab window-like gap would have developed, again allowing a pathway for upwelling magma. In either case, the unsettled asthenosphere might have experienced low degrees of decompressional melting and interacted with North American lithosphere to yield within plate compositions.