Found tectonic plate

A plate of tectonics that once disappeared in North America hundreds of millions of years ago has been discovered still lurking in central California (USA) and Mexico.

A geological anomaly occurring below central California is the remnant of an ancient oceanic plate, which was pushed down North America 100 million years ago.

Picture 1 of Found tectonic plate
Isabella has been found at a depth of 100 km below California - (Photo: Brown University)

Known as the Isabella Plate , this mass of matter has been identified as the remaining fossil of the Farallon ocean plate , deciphering the long-standing mystery of its existence at a depth of 100km below California.

Isabella connected with Farallon plates at similar depths in Washington, Oregon and Baja California in Mexico, according to NBC News, which led to a press release from Brown University (USA).

Most of the Farallon plates have been buried deep below the Earth's mantle since the Pacific and North American disks began to converge 100 million years ago, forming the San Andreas fault at their boundaries.

According to a report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the new discovery has forced scientists to re-examine the geological formation on the west coast of North America.