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Why is the origin of some plateaus in Spain and north-central Mexico uncertain?
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plateau
The Columbia Plateau is uniformly covered with basaltic lava flows and spans an area of about 100,000 square miles in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon.
The origin of the plateaus in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain) and north-central Mexico remains uncertain because, while these regions exhibit high and relatively flat topography, the mechanisms supporting their elevation are not fully understood.1
Although crustal shortening occurred in both regionsâspecifically during the Late Cretaceous and Early Cenozoic in Mexico and during the Cenozoic in parts of Spainâthese areas do not appear to be supported by thick crust, which is typically associated with such tectonic processes. Geologists hypothesize that these plateaus may be underlain by a hot uppermost mantle, which would provide the necessary thermal support for their elevation, but definitive proof of this remains lacking.1