 The small Juan de Fuca Plate and two platelets, the Explorer Plate and Gorda Plate are the meager remnants of the much larger Farallon oceanic plate.The Explorer Plate broke away from the Juan de Fuca about 4 million years ago and shows no evidence that it is still being subducted.The Gorda platelet split away between 18 and 5 million years ago and continues to sink beneath North America.