Plate Tectonics Room

Tectonic plate activity determines watershed geography.   The crust is broken up into 7 major tectonic plates and several smaller plates, which slowly migrate over the semi-solid mantle.   The North American plate is slowly moving west and colliding with the Pacific plate, so our western coast is mountainous and steep.   The passive continental margins along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico have a more gradual slope.   The Mississippi River and its predecessors have been depositing sediment onto this gradual slope for millions of years, gradually forming Louisiana.