Geology of the Pacific Northwest debris. Rising above this volcanic platform are a few strikingly large volcanoes that dominate the landscape. The Cascade volcanoes define the Pacific Northwest section of the Ring of Fire, an array of volcanoes that rim the Pacific Ocean. The Ring of Fire is also known for its frequent earthquakes. The volcanoes and earthquakes arise from a common source: subduction. Beneath the Cascade Volcanic Arc, a dense oceanic plate plunges beneath the North American Plate; a process known as subduction. As the oceanic slab sinks deep into the Earth's interior beneath the continental plate, high temperatures and pressures allow water molecules
Circum-Superior Belt margin. The last collision occurred on the southeastern portion of the Superior craton to produce the Grenville orogeny 1,100 million years ago. Because most of the Circum-Superior Belt was formed by widespread mafic-ultramafic magmatism 1,884 to 1,864 million years ago along the Superior craton margin during these orogenies, a number of different suggestions have been made to explain the questionable origins of this large igneous province. It is also not clear if the Circum-Superior Belt has a single origin or it has several origins. Suggestions include back-arc rifting, foredeep flexure, mantle plumes and the breakup of a microcontinent. The geochemical