View source for Earth:Bridge River Ocean

{{short description|Ancient ocean between North America and the Insular Islands during the Mesozoic}}
[[Image:Insular Omineca arcs.png|thumb|right|The Bridge River Ocean between North America and the Insular Islands]]
The '''Bridge River Ocean''' was an ancient [[Earth:Ocean|ocean]] that existed between [[Earth:North America|North America]] and the Insular Islands during the [[Earth:Mesozoic|Mesozoic]] era. Similar to the earlier [[Earth:Slide Mountain Ocean|Slide Mountain Ocean]], the Bridge River Ocean had a subduction zone on the ocean floor called the Insular Trench. The closure of the Bridge River Ocean occurred about 115 million years ago, during the mid [[Earth:Cretaceous|Cretaceous]] period.

The namesake of the Bridge River Ocean is the Bridge River in the Canadian province of British Columbia, about 100 miles north of the city of {{wipe|Vancouver}}.

==See also==
*{{annotated link|Earth:List of ancient oceans}}

==References==
*[http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/geo_history_wa/Coast%20Range%20Episode.htm The Coast Range Arc Episode (115 to 57 million years ago)]

[[Category:Historical oceans]]

{{Sourceattribution|Bridge River Ocean}}