Summary:
- The Earth's crust is slowly breaking apart off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, a process known as "rifting."
- This rifting is causing the formation of a new ocean basin, which could eventually lead to the separation of the Juan de Fuca and Explorer plates from the North American plate.
- The rifting is being driven by the movement of tectonic plates and the upwelling of magma, which is causing the Earth's crust to thin and stretch in this region.