Topic summary
Cordell Bank
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary.
Geological setting
Cordell Bank was originally created 93 million years ago, as a member of the Sierra Nevada. The grinding of the plates at the San Andreas Fault, with the Pacific Plate moving north and the North American Plate moving south, parts of the Sierra Mountains were sheared off and carried northwards, including Cordell Bank. Eventually this grinding carried Cordell Bank to its present location opposite Reyes Point. Cordell Bank is still moving, by an average of 3 cm (1 in) per year.