{{Short description|Ancient oceanic plate}} [[File:Insular Omineca arcs.png|thumb|300px|right|Plate tectonics along the west coast of North America 130 million years ago]]

The '''Insular plate''' was an ancient [[oceanic plate]] that began [[subduct]]ing under the west-coast of [[North America]] around the early [[Cretaceous]] period. The Insular plate had a chain of active [[volcanic island]]s that were called the [[Insular Islands]]. These volcanic islands, however, collided then fused onto the west-coast of North America when the Insular plate jammed then shut down ending the subduction zone.<ref name="Burke Museum 2002">{{cite web | url=https://www.burkemuseum.org/geo_history_wa/Coast%20Range%20Episode.htm | title=The Coast Range Episode | publisher=The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington | work=Northwest Origins: An Introduction to the Geologic History of Washington State | date=2002 | access-date=12 August 2019 | first1=Catherine L. | last1=Townsend | first2=John T. | last2=Figge}}</ref>

==See also== *[[Insular Mountains]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Tectonic plates}}

[[Category:Natural history of North America]] [[Category:Tectonic plates]] [[Category:Historical tectonic plates]] [[Category:Cretaceous geology]] [[Category:Cenozoic geology]]

{{Tectonics-stub}} {{Palaeo-geo-stub}}