According to Levin, “This subduction created batholiths, compressional structures, volcanism, and metamorphism that accompanied the Mesozoic and Cenozoic orogenies. » Dense oceanic crust subducted beneath continental crust faster than it was created at the mid-ocean ridge. The oceanic crust was part of the Farallon plate, which has now almost completely disappeared because it has been consumed by the North American plate (Levin). The disappearance of the Farallon plate brought the North American plate into direct contact with the Pacific plate. Initially, the Pacific plate was moving north, so when it first came into contact with the North American plate, it did not subduct, but they rubbed against each other . This formed the San Andreas Fault