On plate tectonics and the geologic evolution of southwestern North America

Very rapid subduction of the Farallon plate under southwestern North America between 60 and 40 Ma was accompanied by a relatively low volume of magmatism throughout the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Between 40 and 20 Ma, when subduction slowed significantly and in one area may have even stopped, magmatism became widespread and voluminous from Nevada and Utah to central Mexico. This correlation of rapid subduction with a relatively low volume of magmatism can be explained by the observation that subduction-related andesitic arc volcanism, often formed in a Laramide-style compressional regime, is relatively low volume compared to continental volcanism. -from Author