page_title: Juan de Fuca Ridge
section_title: Geologic history
hierarchical_section_title: Juan de Fuca Ridge / Geologic history
caption_attribution_description: English: Basalt pillow lava from Juan de Fuca Ridge on the floor of the Pacific Ocean.
context_page_description: The Juan de Fuca Ridge is a mid-ocean spreading center and divergent plate boundary located off the coast of the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The ridge separates the Pacific Plate to the west and the Juan de Fuca Plate to the east. It runs generally northward, with a length of approximately 500 kilometers. The ridge is a section of what remains from the larger Pacific-Farallon Ridge which used to be the primary spreading center of this region, driving the Farallon Plate underneath the North American Plate through the process of plate tectonics. Today, the Juan de Fuca Ridge pushes the Juan de Fuca Plate underneath the North American plate, forming the Cascadia Subduction Zone.
context_section_description: The Juan de Fuca Ridge was at one point a part of the larger Pacific-Farallon ridge system. Approximately 30 million years ago, the Farallon Plate, being driven outwards by the Pacific-Farallon ridge, was pushed underneath the North American Plate, splitting what remained into the Juan de Fuca Plate to the North and the Cocos Plate and Nazca Plate to the South.
caption: Basalt pillow lava from Juan de Fuca Ridge
exif: {}