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8ab8ba8's avatar

ha ha, yes!

... and this is what came up on google: "the Pacific Plate is moving north and west relative to the plate that holds North America". Also it is moving in that direction about 3 inches per year. By the way the google search shows, the "North American Plate is moving west-southwest" "about 1 inch per year". Also, the Pacific Ocean is "shrinking", every year" -it gets about an inch smaller per year. WOW. Well there brings another theory, it isn't that the Ocean is 'rising' it is that we may be 'losing coastline' due to the 'push' of the North American Plate 'advancing' in that direction. Therefore the ocean water is 'crashing' against the Continent -as a possibility.

Well aside from all that, going back to the original comment, (and the theory that the Pacific Plate is "crashing in" to the Continent of North America), maybe this is not really a contradiction, (that the Pacific Plate is moving North and West -because to say it is 'crashing' into the continent it has to be moving 'east' technically). In fact, the theory that the Pacific Plate is 'bumping'/'crashing' into the North American Continent may actually hold up to the 'fact' of a West and North movement/direction of the Pacific Plate. To further analyze the movement, the perception and actual data that the 'direction' of the Pacific Plate is actually North and West, (and not 'crashing' 'into' the continent of North America and therefore eastward) may actually be due to the movement of the 'crashing'! In other words, the 'crashing' movement causes the Pacific Plate to be constantly/consistently resisted against by the Continent/ North American Plate and therefore the North American Plate is pushing the Pacific Plate 'away' from it, In the direction of the West and North. The North American Continent is perhaps appearing totally stable, (in fact it is moving too -west-southwest -google search) and therefor it may make some sense that it is in turn 'pushing' the Pacific Plate North and West --- simply because there is so much resistance pushing back against the 'crashing in' towards it movement. We don't 'see' the Pacific Plate moving 'east', (ie: what may explain the California island joining the continent and becoming part of it -if that is what happened as in this commented theory). Rather, this battle of the plates basically creates the situation of the Continent/North America Plate 'standing' or pushing 'against' the Pacific Plate' and, (in fact) actually causing the movement in the direction towards North and West. No matter how much 'force' is the Pacific Plate may be directing east and 'in' to the North American Plate, it 'moves' North and West as a result of the forces at play. Meaning the Continent land mass of North America is so much 'stronger' than the Pacific Plate, and that the Pacific Plate has "no where to go" but North and West. To illustrate this imagination of forces, if I push a much stronger, bigger person than me, the resulting "motion" of my body 'against' theirs ultimately 'pushes me' out and away! Their body doesn't budge, (at all) and merely 'resists', (by mere size and weight). Like running into a 'brick wall', one will just 'bounce off'. So the 'bigger larger bully' one may try to push against is simply 'standing their ground' no matter what force one brings against 'it'. In this case, the 'bully', the North American Plate, is actually even 'moving' -or one might imagine "leaning" into the Pacific Plate as it 'approaches' it, because the North American Plate is in fact moving west and Southwest 'against' the theoretically "incoming" Pacific Plate! So in addition to size, the North American Plate is in 'motion' towards/against the 'incoming' energy. The Pacific Plate is 'trying' to move 'into' the Continent of North America and simply "bumping off" of the land mass and the resulting 'bounce off' sends the Pacific Plate in the direction of North and West. Maybe.... Ok, well that is enough for one day of a totally amateur 'science' attempt.... oh my. That does make some sense if California had once appeared as an island. It moved in the direction of the Pacific Plate it is on top of, squeezing towards the Continent, (connecting the top of the Pacific Plate/California land to the North American Land, eliminating any water in between and also forming the Mountain ridges) and constantly moving into an endless 'bounce off' movement into the direction of the North West, (even as the North American Continent inches West and Southwest). When the San Andreas fault activates, it is not 'splitting'/cracking more, it is the Pacific Plate 'bouncing' against the Continent in a slow motion, groaning motion with a very strong resistant force 'against it' sending it 'back' / away to the North and the West. So anyway, a lot of words to describe this, but it was a fun attempt at a theory as to why, (even if California/Pacific Plate may be 'crashing in') the California land ultimately is moving "north" and "west", (basically due to the resistance of the North American Plate's size and movement against it). Wow, fun imaginings. I see it in my mind even if words are tedious to explain.

and there is this from the google search:

Is the Pacific Plate shrinking?

The Pacific Ocean is shrinking. Every year, it gets about an inch smaller as the tectonic plates that the Americas sit on are pushed westward. Now, thanks to calculations by a supercomputer, scientists say that a new “supercontinent” will eventually emerge due to this process: Amasia.

to this I speculate....

hmmm.... more mountains and land to the west? not breaking away but rather 'building up?!

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8ab8ba8's avatar

I like the curiosities. My mind was thinking that California may have moved 'into' the east, like 'crashing' into the continent.... thus being the cause of the pushing of the land upwards and creating the mountains and such. That would be the opposite of saying California will 'split off' and 'fall into the ocean'... ha ha.... the earthquake fears/statements/theories of California "breaking away from the continent" may have it 'backwards'. Anyway, isn't there some facts that Pacific Plate 'buckling' 'under' the continental plate? I just don't remember. If the pacific plate is folding under the the continent, (if that is true) it may bolster that idea that we are not 'splitting' from the continent, but rather are 'crashing' into the continent. This idea the surface of California was an 'island' may fit into that idea very well. It only came to mind as I saw the 'California Island Map' presented here. Never would have thought of this idea otherwise. The "top" of the land -of the island of California has moved into the continent and is slowly crashing further and further inland -maybe! hmm.... I feel safer now that I don't feel California will 'break away', and instead will press into the land further and further -perhaps. Anyway, thanks for the research and maps, fun to ponder it all.

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