Do you think that california is going to break off someday?

Answer 1

My geology teacher said that it isn't going to fall into the ocean, but in 50 million years a little sliver of it is going to be an island off of the coast of Oregon. He had a picture of it. Plate tectonics and stuff. All of the continents used to be one big continent they call Pangea. They can put the current continents together like a puzzle, you can tell just by looking at the globe how they fit together. It's a little misleading because the continents don't fit exactly, but the contintental shelves that are under the water do. With satelite photos they can see that the plates are still moving and can predict how they will look far in the future. It takes uncomprehendable amounts of time for them to move any significant distances though, so don't worry about buying waterfront property there and passing it down for a few million generations of your anscestors. Well, actually I'm sure we will destroy the world long before then, so doubly don't worry about it.

Answer 2

A fair size chunk will but I assure you that it's unlikely you will experience it. The area of which San Francisco is a small part is a series of faults which move horizontally. This means that the section to seaward is moving more or less north and the landward side, towards Sacramento, will ramble somewhat southward. The piece that holds San Francisco is actually working on becoming part of Russia. This might explain some of the politics in the area. For California to do the Atlantis bit the fault would have to move vertically and it's not likely. The problem with 'quakes comes from faults that do not move smoothly. These lock up and this binding will release in a spasm of energy that causes the damage like in S. F., L. A. and Japan. Any fault has the potential for this but an amazing number move smoothly in a series of micro-quakes that are generally not noticed. Those just keep moving underfoot quietly while everyone about the next big one in California.

Answer 3

Technically, the coast of California can't break off because it's not attached. It's on a different tectonic plate. But it won't slide into the ocean, either.

The San Andreas fault is where the two plates rub against each other. The Pacific Plate that has a lot of western California on it is travelling north. Eventually, it will crash into Alaska, but that won't be for thousands and thousands of years. It travels at an average of about 1/5 of an inch a year. During the 1906 earthquake, the fault slipped about 21 feet.

Answer 4

Break off of what? If you mean will it break off of North America and fall into the Pacific Ocean, absolutely not.

Earth's crust is actually made of several tectonic plates which "float" on the molten mantle. These plates move about (very slowly) because of currents in the mantle. The boundaries where two plates meet is a fault line.

In some places, the plates are drifting apart, so the fault line is opening up. One examples is the Mid-Atlantic Rift which runs down the center of the Atlantic Ocean. Europe and North America are getting farther apart, and mantle material is seeping up through the fault line in the ocean floor, building an undersea mountain range. Another example is the Red Sea, where Africa and the Saudi Peninsula are moving apart. Sea water has moved into the widening fault to form the Red Sea.

In other places the plates are running into each other. An example here is where the plate holding most of India is ramming into Southern Asia. The plates buckle upward and are forming the Himalaya Mountains.

The third possiblility is two plates sliding along side each other. This is what is happening along the San Andreas Fault which runs along California. The slipping is not smooth because the plates "hook" on each other, then pressure builds up and they slip. The result is earthquakes. The coast line of California is moving north relative to the North American plate. San Francisco will eventually be much farther north than Oakland, but it will not "fall off into the ocean."

Answer 5

No way!!!! California can be rocked by some pretty strong Earthquakes but it would never break off the continent. Because an Earthquake of that size and magnitude would have to be really strong and last long to split and crack through the earth's crust. Now it could be possible that Mount st. Helens would destroy a large area of Northern California but california going out to sea I don't think so.

Answer 6

The continental shelf off the coast of California is pretty wide. The whole shelf would have to break off to affect California. Even then, only a small part would be lost. I don't think it's going to happen.

Answer 7

Yes, 1/3 of California is seperated by the San Andreas Fault,and due to the theory of continental drift, California is going to break off.

Answer 8

politically, i think eventually california will someday break apart and form 2 different states: north california, south california, because of all the budget problems we have in this state.



literally, the western portion of california is slowly breaking off and moving north, while the entire continent is slowly moving west. this is due to plate tectonics. the western portion of california is on the pacific plate, whereas the entire north and south american continent mainland is on the american plate. in about 10 million years from now, los angeles will be next door to san francisco.

Answer 9

It's more likely that the rest of North America is going to overrun California as the general direction of the North American plate is westward. If not that, then I would suspect that California would slide in one direction or the other instead of breaking apart from the continent.

Answer 10

The whole state, No, but parts will continue to seperate themselves from the mainland, like the Catalina and other Islands off the coast of southern California.