the sierra nevada mountains are on the farallon plate.
the sierra nevada mountains are on the farallon plate.
what plate is the sierra nevada mountains on?
farallon plate
in the cretaceous, a subduction zone formed at the edge of the continent. this means that an oceanic plate started to dive beneath the north american plate. magma formed through the subduction of the ancient farallon plate rose in plumes (plutons) deep underground, their combined mass forming what is called the sierra nevada batholith. these plutons formed at various times, from 115 ma to 87 ma. the earlier plutons formed in the western half of the sierra, while the later plutons formed in the eastern half of the sierra. by 66 ma, the proto-sierra nevada had been worn down to a range of rolling low mountains, a few thousand feet high.
sierra nevada (u.s.)
sierra nevada bighorn sheep









































sierra nevada bighorn sheep ("ovis canadensis sierrae") is subspecies of bighorn sheep unique to the sierra nevada mountains of california. a 2016 genetics study confirmed significant divergence between the three subspecies of north america's bighorn sheep: sierra nevada bighorn sheep, rocky mountain bighorn sheep and desert bighorn sheep. sierra nevada bighorn sheep were listed as a federally endangered subspecies in 2000. as of 2016, over 600 sierra bighorn remain in the wild.









































section::::physical characteristics.
sierra nevada bighorn sheep