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Juan de fuca ridge system near vancouver island
The Juan de Fuca Ridge is a tectonic spreading center located off the coasts of the state of Washington in the United States and the province of British Columbia in Canada. It runs northward from a transform boundary, the Blanco Fracture Zone, to a triple junction with the Nootka Fault and the Sovanco Fracture Zone. To its east is the Juan de Fuca Plate, which together with the Gorda Plate to its south and the Explorer Plate to its north, is what remains of the once-vast Farallon Plate which has been largely subducted under the North American Plate. To its west is the Pacific Plate. The Juan de Fuca Ridge is a remnant of the former Pacific–Farallon Ridge.
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Map of Juan de Fuca Ridge
The first cataclysmic hydrothermal vent or megaplume was found on the ridge in 1986 near 44°49′N 130°14′W.