![Geological Survey of Canada Geological Survey of Canada](/web/20061103010812im_/http://www.gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/esst_images/gsc_e.jpeg) Natural Resources Canada > Earth Sciences Sector > Geological Survey of Canada > Cordilleran Geoscience
Cordilleran Geoscience Keys to unravelling Cordilleran evolution
Plates seperate and grow at oceanic ridges, disappear at subduction zones, and in places grind past one another on great faults. Distinctive associations of different rock types form in each of these plate boundary settings. A fourth association of rocks forms at within-plate boundaries between oceanic and continental crust. In western Canada, these associations of different rocks formed in specific plate tectonic settings are called "tectonic assemblages".
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