574

20 Transform Plate
Boundaries
The remarkable ridges and troughs of the San Andreas fault system of southern California,
shown in the panorama above, are one of the great surface expressions of plate tectonics.
The long linear valleys mark faults that are part of a plate boundary that cuts through the
entire lithosphere to a depth of about 100 km; they are not merely surface features. Over
the last 30 million years, horizontal movement along the strike-slip faults of the San
Andreas system amounts to several hundred kilometers. Rocks on either side of the fault
are on fundamentally different plates. The deformation is produced as the North American
plate slips south past a narrow slice of continental crust trapped on the Pacific plate.
Carefully examine this panorama, because from it you can begin to develop a more
accurate concept of what Earths tectonic system does.
Transform faults and fracture systems are even more spectacular on the ocean floor (see
the inside back cover of this book). They slice through the midocean ridges in hundreds of
575
places and sweep across the ocean floor for thousands of kilometers, imparting a spectacu-
lar fabric to the solid surface of our planet. They form the most prominent and widespread
fracture system on Earth.
Although huge oceanic fracture zones are intimately related to transform fault move-
ments, only short segments are active transform plate boundaries. The closely spaced
fracture zones of the southern Atlantic Ocean grade southward into a coarser fabric in the
southern Indian Ocean. There, the fracture systems have their own distinctive characteris-
tics. In the northern Indian Ocean, fractures are short and closely spaced, whereas those in
the southwestern arm of the ridge near Australia are four times as long. Some of the
longest and boldest fractures are in the southern Pacific Ocean, but northward, the East
Pacific Rise is more subdued and the fracture systems have weaker topographic expression.
Transform faults connect various kinds of plate boundaries. All play an important role in
Earths plate dynamics. Thus, it is clear that transform plate boundaries are ubiquitous and
play an important role in global tectonics. Our focus in this chapter is on the processes that
occur at these plate boundaries and the features they produce.
CHARACTERISTICS OF TRANSFORM
PLATE BOUNDARIES
Transform plate boundaries are zones of shearing, where two plates slide
horizontally past each other. Rocks in the shear zone are strongly deformed,
but no new lithosphere is created and none is consumed. Transform bound-
aries in ocean basins and on the continents are expressed by steep, linear
ridges and valleys. The major types of transform plate boundaries are ridge-
ridge transforms, ridge-trench transforms, and trench-trench transforms.
Transform boundaries are strike-slip faults along which two separate tectonic
plates grind horizontally past each other without forming or consuming litho-
sphere (Figure 20.1). Transform faults are generally vertical and parallel to the
direction of movement. They are produced by shearing. Most transform faults
are intimately related to divergent plate boundaries on the ocean floor and cut
across the midocean ridges. Other types of transform faults connect convergent
and divergent plate boundaries, and some cut across the continents themselves.
Volcanism and deformation are less common at transform boundaries than
along other types, but transform faults remain complex structural and topo-
graphic features.
Oceanic transform plate boundaries are part of even longer features called
fracture zones (Figure 20.1). Fracture zones are enormous structures that range
up to 10,000 km long and may have a vertical relief of 6 km. They are remark-
ably narrowonly a few zones are as much as 100 km widebut all consist of
a series of parallel fractures. On regional maps, an oceanic fracture zone may
appear to be a fault that offsets an oceanic ridge. However, a fracture zone
(gray in Figure 20.1) extends in both directions beyond the active transform
fault boundary (red). Compared with the fracture zone, the actively deforming
transform plate boundary is much shorter, typically less than a few hundred
kilometers. This active zone is marked by steeply dipping faults and complex-
ly deformed oceanic crust.
576
1. Transform plate boundaries are unique in that the plates move horizon-
tally past each other on strike-slip faults. Lithosphere is neither created
nor destroyed.
2. The three major types of transform boundaries are: (a) ridge-ridge trans-
forms, (b) ridge-trench transforms, and (c) trench-trench transforms.
3. Transform plate boundaries are shear zones where plates move past each
other without diverging or converging. During shearing, secondary features
are created, including parallel ridges and valleys, pull-apart basins, and belts
of folds. Compression and extension develop in only small areas.
4. Oceanic fracture zones are prominent linear features that trend perpendic-
ular to the oceanic ridge. They may be several kilometers wide and thou-
sands of kilometers long. The structure and topography of oceanic fracture
zones depend largely on the temperature (or age) difference across the frac-
ture and on the spreading rate of the oceanic ridge.
5. Continental transform fault zones are similar to oceanic transforms, but they
lack fracture zone extensions.
6. Shallow earthquakes are common along transform plate boundaries; they
are especially destructive on the continents.
7. Volcanism is rare along transform plate boundaries, but small amounts of
basalt erupt locally from leaky transform faults.
8. Metamorphism in transform fault zones creates rocks with strongly sheared
fabrics, as well as hydrated crustal and even mantle rocks.
MAJOR CONCEPTS
Tr ans f or m Pl at e Boundar i es 577
Casual examination of maps of oceanic fracture zones, like Figure 20.1, may fail
to convey an accurate notion of their size and length. Many are long enough that
they would extend across the entire United States as systems of parallel ridges
and troughs. (For example, compare the length of several Pacific fracture zones
with the United States on the map.) Most of the valley walls are much higher and
steeper than the ridges of the Appalachian Mountains or the Front Range of the
Rockies. The relief on some fracture zones is comparable to that of the great east-
ern scarp of Californias fault-bounded Sierra Nevada. Without erosion by river sys-
tems, the transform fault scarps on the ocean floor are quite unlike any on land.
They are neither dissected with stream valleys nor greatly subdued by weathering
and erosion. Most erosional modification results from mass movement along the
slopes of the escarpment.
On the continents, transform plate boundaries are major strike-slip faults with
displacement of hundreds of kilometers, placing rocks of widely different origins
and ages side by side. This movement produces the linear cliffs, ridges, and troughs
that are common surface expressions of major strike-slip faults. Like oceanic trans-
forms, a continental transform fault is not one plane, but consists of a zone of faults
that can be several kilometers wide. Stream erosion of transform faults on conti-
nents tends to subdue their topographic expression, but movement on the great
Alpine Fault in New Zealand has produced mountains more than 3000 m high.
Continental transform faults also pose great hazards because of the abundant
earthquakes they produce.
Types of Transform Plate Boundaries
By carefully considering the map in Figure 20.1, you can see that a transform plate
boundary is a special kind of fault that transforms one type of plate motion into
another type. For example, the diverging motion between plates at an oceanic ridge
can be changed along a transform fault to the converging motion between plates
How does a transform fault differ from
the associated fracture zone?
Dead Sea
Alpine
Clipperton
San Andreas
Romanche
Transform boundary Midocean ridge Convergent boundary Fracture zone
N. Anatolian
Queen
Charlotte
Island
FIGURE 20.1 A map of the major transform plate boundaries and associated oceanic fracture zones shows that most are related to
spreading of the oceanic ridge. Also, most curve because they are parallel to small circles around the poles of plate rotation. Other transform
boundaries are related to convergent margins in regions of complex plate movement.
Transform
fault
Transform
fault
Transform
fault
Fracture zone
FIGURE 20.2 Transform faults can connect convergent and
divergent plate boundaries in various combinations. (A) shows
the common ridge-ridge transform fault. Note that relative
motion occurs only along the boundary of the plates between the
two segments of the ridge. (B) shows a ridge-trench transform
fault. (C) shows a trench-trench transform fault. In all cases, the
trend of a transform fault is parallel to the direction of relative
motion between plates. This characteristic is helpful in
determining the direction of plate motion.
578 Chapt er 20
at a subduction zone. Transform faults can connect convergent and divergent plate
boundaries in three different ways: (1) ridge-ridge transforms connect two seg-
ments of a divergent plate boundary; (2) ridge-trench transforms connect a ridge
and a trench; and (3) trench-trench transforms couple trenches at two different
convergent plate boundaries (Figure 20.2).
Ridge-ridge transform faults are by far the most abundant. It is therefore im-
portant to analyze the movements of these transforms in detail. Keep in mind that
active displacement on these faults occurs only between the ridge segments, as shown
in Figure 20.2A. The figure shows that plate movements are in opposite directions
between the ridge crests. No movement occurs along the rest of the fracture zone.
Thus, the transform fault sustains formidable shearing movement. In the upper
part of the plate, brittle shearing creates mylonite (Chapter 6) and tectonic brec-
cias. Numerous earthquakes are produced by repeated rupturing of the brittle
rocks along the upper part of the fault zone. Brittle fracturing grades into ductile
deformation in the weak underlying asthenosphere; consequently, seismicity is
characteristically shallow along a transform, occurring in the brittle zone. The fault
cuts through the entire lithosphere.
Ridge-trench transforms are much less common (Figure 20.2B). But they
form an important connection between spreading and converging plates. The
longest transform faults are all of this kind. One type of ridge-trench transform
connects a ridge with the overriding side of a convergent boundary, like the one
east of the southern tip of South America (Figure 20.1). Here, two long trans-
form faults connect a short ridge with the trench along the Scotia arc. Togeth-
er, these plate boundaries form a huge hairpin curve. Another type of ridge-
trench transform connects a ridge with the subducting side of a trench. An
example is the Queen Charlotte Island Fault off the western coast of Canada
(Figure 20.1).
Trench-trench transforms (Figure 20.2C) are also rare. Figure 20.1 shows two
good examples. One is the Alpine Fault in New Zealand, which appears to connect
two trenches in the south Pacific. The direction of subduction changes across the
transform fault. Another trench-trench transform fault connects the western Aleut-
ian trench and the Kamchatka trench on the eastern shore of Russia.
(C) Trench-trench transform fault.
(B) Ridge-trench transform fault. (A) Ridge-ridge transform fault.
Why are ridge-ridge transform faults
more abundant than other types?

Tr ans f or m Pl at e Boundar i es 579
OCEANIC TRANSFORM PLATE BOUNDARIES
AND FRACTURE ZONES
Transform plate boundaries in the ocean basins are prominent linear features
that are perpendicular to the midocean ridges. They are the short, active parts
of fracture zones that may be several kilometers wide and thousands of
kilometers long. The characteristics of oceanic fracture zones depend on the
age difference between the lithosphere on either side of the fault zone.
The long oceanic fracture zones that slice across the seafloor are not what they
first seem to be. The sharp linear surface expression of fracture zones and the ap-
parent offset of an oceanic ridge may suggest that they are simple strike-slip faults,
with displacement occurring along their entire length. However, nothing could be
farther from reality. To understand oceanic fracture zones, you must keep in mind
the relative motion of the plates at a spreading ridge.
Active displacement on the fracture zone occurs only along the line that con-
nects the offset ridge segments (Figure 20.2). This zone is the transform fault, and
it is the only place where the fracture zone is a boundary between plates. It is along
this zone that earthquakes occur. Beyond this transform zone, the plates on either
side of the fracture are moving in the same direction and at the same rate; they are
linked together on the same plate. There is thus an active segment of the fracture
(a transform fault, which is a plate boundary) and an inactive segment (which is
not a plate boundary).
As the plates slide past each other in the transform zone, their boundaries are
fractured and broken (Figure 20.3). This fracturing produces parallel ridges and
troughs in the fault zone (Figure 20.4). If there is no displacement along faults be-
yond the transform zone, then how do these valleys and ridges form? It is proba-
bly easiest to envision the inactive portion of the fracture zone as a long thermal
scar in the oceanic crust. Where a ridge segment terminates against a transform
fault, the newly formed hot ocean floor lies next to older, colder ocean floor (Fig-
ure 20.2A). A steep cliff or scarp is produced if there is a large difference in the age
of rocks on either side of the fault zone, as shown in the figure. The younger lithos-
phere near the oceanic ridge is hotter and expanded, so it stands higher than the
colder and contracted lithosphere on the other side of the fracture. The higher side
of the transform fault thus may change from one side to the other, as you can see
in the figure.
T
ransform
fault
T
ransform
fault
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
Depth meters
FIGURE 20.3 Intense shearing occurs
at transform plate boundaries. This map of
of the flanks of the mid-Atlantic ridge
shows all of the hallmarks of a transform
fault. Linear valleys, depressions, and ridges
are all aligned along the fault. In addition,
the abyssal hills bend to make J-shaped
curves as they reach the transform.
(Courtesy of D. Blackman)
How long and wide are oceanic fracture
zones?
580 Chapt er 20
As spreading continues, this elevation difference persists, and the scar grows
longer and longer. Thus, a fracture zone is a historical recording of the relative
plate motions on either side of a spreading ridge. For example, the fracture zones
in the North Atlantic trace the movement of North America away from Africa.
Another distinctive characteristic of transform plate boundaries is that no sig-
nificant amount of lithosphere is formed or consumed. Tremendous shearing, grind-
ing, metamorphism, and deformation occur in these narrow zones. In fact, between
1% and 10% of the oceanic lithosphere has been deformed by processes at a trans-
form fault. There is generally little or no volcanic or intrusive activity, although
some volcanism may occur along leaky transform systems. Transform plate
boundaries play an important structural role in the tectonics of our planet, and
considerable movement and adjustment occur along these zones as the plates shift
and move about.
Examples of Oceanic Fracture Zones
To become better acquainted with the characteristics of oceanic fracture zones,
let us look more closely at three different transform systems.
Romanche Fracture Zone. The most spectacular fracture in the central Atlantic
Ocean is the Romanche fracture system, which lies almost on the equator (Figure
20.5). The fracture zone cuts the slow-spreading Mid-Atlantic ridge and includes
a ridge-ridge transform fault between the African plate on the north and the South
0 500 km
Africa
Romanche
fracture zone
Vema fracture zone
Ridge
St. Pauls Rocks
Africa
South
America
Ridge
Romanche
fracture zone
0 500 km
Vema fracture zone
St. Pauls Rocks
FIGURE 20.5 The Romanche fracture zone extends across most of the Atlantic Ocean, forming a huge ridge and trough system some 5000
km long and almost 100 km wide. The active transform boundary lies between the offset ridge axis. (Courtesy of D. T. Sandwell and W. H. F. Smith,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego)
Ocean crust
Transform fault
zone
FIGURE 20.4 Various topographic expressions of transform boundaries result from juxtaposition of rock bodies having different temperatures,
ages, and internal structure. The simple-to-complex valleys and scarps shown here are common.

Tr ans f or m Pl at e Boundar i es 581
American plate on the south. The fracture zone stretches across the entire Atlantic
Ocean; even the active transform is 600 km long. Consequently, the difference in
age of the oceanic crust on either side of the fracture is huge, nearly 50 million
years (compare with the map on the inside front cover).
The Romanche fracture zone is a series of deep valleys separated by ridges.
One narrow ridge rises above sea level to make cluster of small islandsSt. Peter
and St. Pauls Rocks, one of the few oceanic island groups that did not form by
volcanism. The floor of this zone is fractured and grooved and contains the deep-
est part of the central Atlantic Ocean (7960 m below sea level). This deep gap in
the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is significant in circulation of oceanic water in that it per-
mits cold bottom water from the ocean near Antarctica to flow from the western
side of the ridge in the southern Atlantic into the deep basins of the northern At-
lantic on the east side of the ridge.
The transform fault is not a single plane but a fault system tens of kilometers
wide containing many separate vertical faults that branch and crosscut one an-
other. Many slumps from the steep walls of the escarpment cover large parts of the
valley floor. These deep cuts expose complete sections through the oceanic crust.
Rocks dredged from the floor of the fracture zone include igneous rocks such as
basalt, gabbro, and mantle peridotite as well as their deformed or metamorphosed
equivalentsmylonite, metabasalt, and serpentinite (hydrated peridotite). With-
out question, the transform is a zone of intense shearing, manifested by breccias
and highly deformed serpentinites. Extensive slumping and landsliding off the
steep scarps also have produced coarse talus breccias.
Clipperton Fracture Zone. The Clipperton fracture zone stretches from the coast
of Central America to the middle of the Pacific Ocean (Figure 20.1). The active
transform boundary, however, is only 85 km long and connects two segments of the
East Pacific Rise (Figure 20.6). The lithosphere differs in age across the fracture
zone, but only by about 1.5 million years. The spreading rate on this part of the ridge
is high, about 10 cm/yr. The transform fault zone is a deep cleft, bounded by high
ridges on either side.
The inactive fracture zone beyond offsets magnetic stripes in the oceanic crust,
indicating that the entire fracture zone originated as a ridge-ridge transform fault,
but the direction of spreading changed slightly about 3 million years ago. On the
north side, seismic investigations show no axial magma chamber within 70 km of
the ridge-transform intersection. On the other hand, a magma chamber is present
on the south side of the Clipperton fracture zone.
FIGURE 20.6 The Clipperton
transform fault cuts the East Pacific Rise, in
the northern part of this map. It is just west
of the Central American coast. The
transform fault forms a series of ridges and
troughs connecting two segments of the
oceanic ridge. The offset is about 85 km.
Note the height of the plate immediately
north of the East Pacific Rise and the rugged
relief in the fault zone.The fracture system
where no shear occurs extends beyond the
active transform fault. (Courtesy of K. C.
Mcdonald, University of California at Santa
Barbara)
0
km
50
Why is Cyprus important for the study
of transform faults?
582 Chapt er 20
Transform Fault Zones in Ophiolites. Some ophiolites have long, nearly vertical
shear zones that slice through the igneous rocks. These zones are probably
transform faults formed on the seafloor and then preserved during the thrusting
of the ophiolite onto land.
For example, the Troodos ophiolite complex on the Mediterranean island of
Cyprus is cut by such a vertical shear zone (Figure 20.7). The shear zone is about
10 km wide and cuts through the rocks of the ophiolite sequence. Dikes in a sheet-
ed dike complex curve toward the major strike-slip fault, just as ridge tips do a
transform fault zone. Outcrops of gabbro and serpentinite lie on the south side of
the fault. The large mass of serpentine is interpreted to have formed when peri-
dotite in the mantle combined with seawater flowing through the highly perme-
able fracture zone. Because serpentine is both buoyant and weak, it may have in-
truded into the fracture zone as a diapir. Talus breccias formed as steep slopes on
the seafloor failed. Apparently, high ridges and deep valleys ran parallel to the
shear zone. The breccias are interlayered with sediments and basaltic lava flows,
which include pillow basalts. Small volumes of lava must have erupted along the
shear zone. All of these features reveal that this area of the ophiolite was strong-
ly sheared along a strike-slip fault while it was still at the bottom of the ocean
and long before it was thrust onto dry land.
Processes at Transform Plate Boundaries
Transform boundaries strongly influence local tectonic and igneous processes and
are responsible for much of the structural and topographic variation of the ocean
floor. The examples described above show that most oceanic fracture zones have
pronounced topographic relief, with high linear ridges and deep linear troughs,
steeply inclined fault scarps, and sheared rocks. Like many strike-slip faults on
land, a transform fault zone is not a single plane but a fault zone that can be as
much as 100 km wide. The transforms thus contain numerous separate fault planes
that branch, merge, and cross one another to make a braided network of strike-
slip faults. Volcanism also diminishes near the transform intersection with an
oceanic ridge.
To understand why these characteristics develop, let us explore some of the fun-
damental processes that take place at transform plate boundaries. Their distinctive
fabric largely results from the complex interplay of strike-slip faulting, age and
temperature contrasts across the transform fault, and shearing rates.
Contraction and Extension in Transform Fault Systems. At many transform
fault boundaries, strike-slip displacement occurs along several separate fault planes
that curve slightly, merge, and separate again. Horizontal movement within this
braided system of curved faults produces local zones of horizontal compression or
Gabbro
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l
s
c
a
l
e
(
k
m
)
Sheeted dikes
Pillow
basalt
Pillow basalt
Sediment
Shear zone
Young hot plate
Old cold plate
Talus
1
0
2
3
Sheeted dikes
Serpentinite
FIGURE 20.7 The structure of a
transform shear as interpreted from
exposures in the Troodos ophiolite complex
on Cyprus. The fault zone consists of
innumerable vertical faults and is marked by
complex breccias made of fragments from
basaltic dikes. The large mass of serpentine
intruded the fracture zone. Talus breccias are
interlayered with sediments and basaltic lava
flows, which include pillow basalts that
erupted at the transform boundary.
What processes occur along transform
faults?
Tr ans f or m Pl at e Boundar i es 583
extension (Figure 20.8). Horizontal compression occurs where the bends are
oriented so that blocks on either side of the fault are squeezed together (Figure
20.8A). This squeezing creates uplifted regions with small folds and thrust faults
that trend perpendicular to the major strike-slip faults. Because this process
involves both transform and compression motion, it is known as transpression.
This kind of contraction commonly creates long, low ridges, but locally, uplift may
be extreme.
Areas of extension can also develop along bends in the strike-slip faults.
Transtension (transform plus extension) produces small fault-bounded troughs
known as pull-apart basins (Figure 20.8B). This extension results in normal fault-
ing and subsidence of a small block between the two plates. These more or less
rectangular basins grow and accumulate sedimentary deposits as strike-slip move-
ment continues. As the troughs grow, the floor may be stretched and thinned so that
volcanoes may develop in the central part of the basin.
Thermal Structure and the Cold Wall. By their very nature, ridge-ridge
transform plate boundaries juxtapose a cold wall of lithosphere against a hot ridge
axis. You can see in Figure 20.9 that a relatively thick, cold, and contracted segment
of older lithosphere on the flank of a ridge is adjacent to a hot ridge axis where new
lithosphere is forming. This may seem at first to be a minor and insignificant
characteristic, but it is a major factor in the structural and topographic evolution
of the oceanic crust.
In a sense, normal processes that occur along the ridge, such as rifting and the
generation of new oceanic crust, come up against this cold wall and stop. Thus, the
transform faults at either end of a ridge segment form distinct boundaries to the
crust-forming processes, much as the walls of a magma chamber form boundaries
to igneous processes in a pluton. The cold wall cools the asthenosphere rising be-
neath the ridge. This cooling restricts the amount of partial melting and reduces the
amount of magma that can separate from the asthenosphere. Consequently, this
What effect does the cold wall have
on the adjacent oceanic ridge?
Basin formed by transtension Fold formed by transpression
(A) (B)
FIGURE 20.8 Secondary compressional and extensional structures are produced by bends or offsets in the transform fault system. Small fold
belts mark zones of transpression (A) and pull-apart basins mark transtensional bends (B).
Older cold
crust
Younger
hot crust Hot bulge
A
A'
Midocean
ridge
FIGURE 20.9 The thermal structure of
a transform boundary is related to
differences in age and temperature of the
lithosphere across the fault. The cross
section along AA is parallel to a ridge
segment and shows the thermal structure of
a ridge-transform boundary. The older,
cooler lithosphere creates a cold wall that
inhibits magmatic processes and
concentrates deformation into a narrow
zone. The younger, hotter lithosphere
stands higher than the older cooler
lithosphere. Thus, the scarp alternates from
one side of the fracture zone to the other.
In addition, a hot bulge forms on the older
lithosphere that is adjacent to the hot ridge.
Older cold
crust
Younger
hot crust
Hot bulge
Fault
A
A'
584 Chapt er 20
massive cold wall may effectively eliminate development of normal oceanic crust
at the adjacent ridge crest. Near transform boundaries the oceanic crust may be
very thin.
The spreading ridge also affects the cold wall. Intrusion of hot dikes or con-
ductive heating from the hot ridge causes a bulge to develop on the cold side of
the fault (Figure 20.9). This bulge is a significant topographic element of the trans-
form. Note the bulge across from the spreading ridge along the Clipperton frac-
ture zone (Figure 20.6).
Ridge Offset and Spreading Rate. The structure and topography of ridge-ridge
transform plate boundaries vary systematically, depending on the temperature of
the plates across the transform fault. The amount of offset of the ridge and the
spreading rate control the contrast in temperature. Large ridge offsets juxtapose
an old, cold section of lithosphere against a young, hot ridge. Small ridge offsets
juxtapose two sections of lithosphere that have almost the same temperature, age,
thickness, and strength. (For a given offset distance, ridges that spread quickly will
juxtapose plates that are very similar to one another as compared to transform
faults on ridges that spread slowly.)
Transforms with long ridge offsets (or with slow-shearing rates) have a promi-
nent cold wall (Figure 20.10). On one side of the fault zone, lithosphere is ex-
ceptionally thin and weak. Directly across the fault zone, the lithosphere may
be 30 million years old and 50 km thick. The striking difference in the thickness
of lithosphere keeps the fault zone narrow and prevents the fracture from split-
ting or migrating. Consequently, the fault zone is well defined, generally less than
1 km wide, and has steep walls. The cold wall also lowers the temperature of
magma beneath the ridge and slows volcanism. As a result, the crust that devel-
ops here is thin. In addition, seawater penetrates through the thin crust down
into the mantle. There it combines with peridotite to form the metamorphic rock
serpentinite. Because of its lower density and lower strength, the serpentinite
may rise through the crust and make long, narrow serpentinite ridges charac-
teristic of transforms at slow-spreading ridges.
As the amount of offset decreases (or rate of shearing increases), the fault zone
becomes wider and more complex (Figure 20.11). If the offset is less than about
(A) The transform fault is marked by a deep linear valley. Long,
narrow, linear ridges commonly parallel the faults. Also, note how the
spreading ridge bends into the fault zone. (Courtesy of K. C. Macdonald
University of California, Santa Barbara)
(B) The schematic cross section shows the pronounced contrast in
thickness of the lithosphere from the accreting ridge where the lithosphere
consists only of hot, new oceanic crust to the much older, colder, and
thicker lithosphere on the opposite side.
L
ith
o
sp
h
e
re
G
a
b
b
ro
B
a
s
a
lt
D
ike
s
Strike-slip
faults
0
4
8
km
Serpentine
Asthenosphere
1 m
illion
years old
30 m
illion
years old
Transform zone
Serpentine
ridge
Fracture
zone
Ridge
50 0
km
FIGURE 20.10 A large-offset on a transform fault (or one that
has a slow-shearing rate) has a narrow zone of deformation.
What is the difference in the structure
and topography of long offset versus
small offset transform faults?
Tr ans f or m Pl at e Boundar i es 585
50 km, little variation exists in the temperature, age, or thickness of the lithosphere
on either side of the transform. Thus, the boundary is not well constrained by a
wall of strong, cold lithosphere. A broad zone of deformation up to 100 km wide
develops. The transform contains multiple shear zones and small ridge segments
that are oblique to the ridge. In addition, volcanism is more common in the wider
shear zones.
CONTINENTAL TRANSFORM FAULTS
Continental transform faults are similar to oceanic transform faults. They
are seismically active and have distinctive topographic featuresfault
scarps, linear ridges and troughs, and displaced stream channels formed by
strike-slip faulting. Pull-apart basins and fold belts develop along bends in
the faults.
Transform faults that cut continental crust are not nearly as common as oceanic
transforms because most transform faults develop at oceanic ridges. Some inactive
transforms are preserved as suture zones in shields or as boundaries to accreted
terrains (see Chapter 21). Todays active continental transform faults are impor-
tant because they help us understand global tectonics and because they are seis-
mic hazards in populated areas.
Continental transform faults are similar to oceanic transforms in that their mo-
tion is essentially strike-slip and associated earthquakes are shallow. Like ocean-
ic transforms, continental transform faults penetrate the entire lithosphere and
their movement defines a plate boundary. (Most other types of faults involve only
the upper part of the crust and die out at relatively shallow depths.) Continental
transform faults typically have distinctive linear topographic features (Figure
20.12). These include relatively straight fault scarps, linear ridges and troughs, and
streams and valleys that have been beheaded and displaced horizontally. The in-
dividual faults in a continental transform system therefore branch, join, bend, and
sidestep each other and even establish zones of local contraction or extension.
How are transform faults expressed on
continents?
(A) The transform fault zone may be tens of kilometers wide. Several
shear zones within the transform system form elongate ridges and
valleys. They are linked together by extensional pull-apart basins or
segments of spreading centers that trend obliquely across the shear
zone. Volcanism occurs along these short ridge segments. (Courtesy
of K. C. Macdonald University of California, Santa Barbara)
(B) This cross section shows that there is little contrast in lithospheric
thickness across the transform zone. This relative uniformity permits a
wide belt of deformation.
Lithosphere
Gabbro
Basalt
D
ikes
Strike-slip
faults
0
4
8
km
Asthenosphere
1 m
illion
years old
3 m
illion
years old
R
i
d
g
e
50 0
km
Transform zone
Fracture
zone
R
i
d
g
e
FIGURE 20.11 A small offset transform fault (or one that
has a high-shearing rate) has a wide zone of deformation.
586 Chapt er 20
Some differences between oceanic and continental lithosphere may be caused
by the greater thickness and structural complexity of continental lithosphere. Con-
tinental transform faults may follow previous zones of weakness, such as older
faults or boundaries between rock types that have contrasting strengths.
Examples of Continental Transform Faults
To appreciate these features and structures, let us consider some details of three
well-known continental transform systems.
San AndreasGulf of California Transform System. The San AndreasGulf of
California transform system is 3000 km long, extending from the Mendocino
fracture zone off the northern coast of California southward to the tip of Baja
California (Figure 20.13). It is a ridge-ridge transform consisting of two main parts:
the San Andreas strike-slip zone and the obliquely rifting Gulf of California.
The San Andreas Fault is expressed at the surface by a great scar running
through most of California, but it has many subsidiary faults. Thus, the displacement
involves a zone more than 100 km wide (see p. 594). These faults are part of the
same system that accommodates the motion of the Pacific plate past the North
American plate. Undoubtedly, it is the best-known plate boundary in the world. At
its southern end, the San Andreas Fault splays out into a series of subparallel strike-
slip faults that extend to the head of the Gulf of California. Throughout Califor-
nia, the San Andreas Fault zone is marked by sharp, linear landforms, including
straight and narrow valleys, linear ridges, and offset drainage patterns (Figure
20.12B). Local zones of transpression and transtension have developed deep pull-
apart basins and zones of intense compression. The rocks in one folded zone have
been uplifted about 15 km.
The San Andreas Fault itself is more than 1000 km long, an active boundary
between the Pacific plate to the west and the North American plate to the east. The
Pacific plate is moving northwestward at about 6 cm/yr relative to the North Amer-
ican plate. As stress builds between the plates, sudden releases cause the
(A) Transform fault zones include strike-slip faults, fault scarps, linear ridges and
valleys, offset drainages, and local elongate lakes and ponds.
(B) The San Andreas Fault slices through California, marking
the transform boundary between moving tectonic plates. The
great scar along the fault line is marked by linear valleys,
sharp contrast in landforms, and displaced drainage.
Linear
valley
Offset
drainage
Sag pond
Linear
ridge
FIGURE 20.12 Continental transform faults produce very distinctive landforms.

Tr ans f or m Pl at e Boundar i es 587
earthquakes for which California is noted. Earthquakes occur along its entire
length and as deep as 15 km, but no deeper. The famous San Francisco earthquake
of 1906 resulted from movement that produced an offset of as much as 6.4 m.
The San Andreas Fault system began to develop about 30 million years ago (in
Oligocene time) and its location on the continent may have been controlled by
preexisting fractures in the basement rocks. Horizontal movement along the San
Andreas Fault has totaled about 300 km.
The Gulf of California segment of the transform system is a series of long trans-
form faults that connect very short spreading ridges (Figure 20.13). The features
of the Gulf of California segment are similar in many ways to those of small-
offset oceanic transform systems. Most of the Gulf of California is thinned conti-
nental crust, and the floor of the ocean is very shallow. Along the spreading ridges,
however, oceanic crust has formed and the bottom of the gulf attains abyssal
depths. Opening of the gulf began about 5 million years ago with a spreading rate
of 5 cm/yr.
The net result of movement along the San AndreasGulf of California transform
system has been the opening of the Gulf of California and the displacement of the
western block of the San Andreas northward approximately 300 km (Figure 20.13).
With continued movement, Baja California and a narrow slice of western Cali-
fornia may become an elongate continental fragment surrounded by oceanic crust.
The San AndreasGulf of California transform system thus provides insight into
how some microcontinents are formed, especially where the transforms cut the
ridge obliquely, such as in the western Indian Ocean. This mechanism might explain
the origin of Madagascar and the Seychelles Islands, which are continental frag-
ments formerly attached to Africa and India.
Dead Sea Transform System. The Dead Sea transform system extends from the
spreading ridge of the Red Sea northward to a zone of continent-to-continent
collision in the Alpine orogenic belt in southern Turkey (Figure 20.14). The
structure, topography, and history of the entire region are magnificent expressions
of continental plates moving along a transform system. The transform zone is about
1000 km long and marks the boundary between the western edge of the Arabian
plate and the northern part of the African plate. It is a remarkable structure that
controls the development of many features in Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and the Sinai
Peninsula, as described below.
The main structure is the strike-slip fault zone, which involves several separate
fault planes that slice through the entire lithosphere. These faults are not straight
but have several angular bends. As a result, large, deep pull-apart basins have
formed along the strike-slip fault zone (Figure 20.15). The Gulf of Aqaba (Elat) seg-
ment is the widest and deepest. The floor of one of these basins is more than 2000
m below sea level. Farther north, the Dead Sea trough is another pull-apart basin;
it is 400 m below sea level, with water depths exceeding 300 m in places. Sediment
filling the Dead Sea trough is derived from erosion of the adjacent mountains. It
is several kilometers thick and continues to pour into the graben, forming alluvial
fans. In a more humid climate, the Dead Sea trough would be a freshwater lake or
an extension of the Gulf of Aqaba.
The structural features north and south of the Dead Sea are no less impressive.
Note the direction of plate movement illustrated in Figure 20.14. The Arabian plate
is moving northward and the African plate southward. Two major bends in the
strike-slip fault system occur, one to the north in Lebanon and Syria and the other
south of the Dead Sea. As the plates move near these bends, slippage along the
fault is inhibited and broad zones of transpression result. This formed compres-
sional folds that branch off the strike-slip fault zone in the Palmyra Mountains to
the north (Figure 20.14)
The Dead Sea transform system began about 25 million years ago when Ara-
bia was still part of the African continent. As rifting began to open the Red Sea,
FIGURE 20.13 The San AndreasGulf
of California transform system extends from
northern California to just beyond the end
of Baja California. It connects the
Mendocino fracture zone, the Cascade
trench, and the East Pacific Rise. Where the
transform involves continental crust
(throughout California), it forms a series of
strike-slip faults with intervening pull-apart
basins and compressional ridges. In the Gulf
of California, where the transform system
involves oceanic crust, the fault zone consists
of a series of long transform faults
connecting short ridge segments.
Gulf of
California
East Pacific
Ridge
S
a
n
A
n
d
r
e
a
s
F
a
u
l
t
R
i
d
g
e
Mendocino
fracture
zone
Cascade
trench
Mendocino
Triple Junction
What structures north and south of the
Dead Sea are produced by movement
along a transform fault?
What is the offset along the Alpine
Fault?
588 Chapt er 20
the Arabian plate split from Africa and began to move northward. The Dead Sea
transform was initiated by this movement, and vigorous tectonic activity has con-
tinued ever since. Total offset along the southern extent is at least 100 km, but to
the north displacement is less, suggesting that part of the plate movement has been
taken up by folding in the Palmyra fold belt. Intermittent volcanism along the
transform system has occurred since Mesozoic time, and Pleistocene basaltic lava
flows and cinder cones are especially obvious (Figure 20.14).
Alpine Transform System of New Zealand. The Alpine Fault is a trench-
trench transform system connecting the west-dipping Tonga-Kermadec Trench
in the north with the east-dipping Macquarie Trench in the south. As seen in
Figure 20.16, the Pacific plate is being consumed in the Tonga-Kermadec Trench
east of the north island, and the Australian plate is being subducted south of
the south island. Thus, the Alpine transform is a trench-trench transform that
traverses a large segment of a continental fragment, shearing New Zealand
down the middle. Consequently, this type of transform can be studied from
direct observation on land.
Cairo (El-qahira)
Jordan
Israel
Red Sea
Lebanon
Syria
Cyprus
TURKISH PLATE
ARABIAN PLATE
AFRICAN PLATE
Palmyra
folds
Palmyra
folds
Faults
Folds
Subduction zone
Mediterranean Sea
Turkey
Sinai
Palestine
block
Trench
0 200 100
km
A
lp
in
e
O
r
o
g
e
n
ic
B
e
lt
Dead
Sea
Saudi
Arabia
Basalt
Palestine
Gulf of
Aqaba
FIGURE 20.14 The Dead Sea transform system connects the Red Sea spreading ridge with the Alpine convergent belt. The
movement along the transform zone has produced the long, deep, narrow pull-apart basins of the Gulf of Aqaba and the Dead Sea as
well as the contractional folds of the northern Sinai and the Palmyra Mountains of Lebanon and Syria. Small eruptions of basalt
occurred near the pull-apart basins. (Courtesy of Ken Perry, Chalk Butte, Inc.)
Tr ans f or m Pl at e Boundar i es 589
Like the San Andreas Fault, the Alpine transform was well known as a strike-
slip fault long before plate tectonic theory developed. Correlation of distinc-
tive rock types near the ends of the fault zone indicates a huge displacement of
about 480 km (note the displacement of the late Paleozoic metamorphic rocks
on the map). The north and south islands of New Zealand are currently being
drawn apart along the Alpine transform system. Throughout much of its length,
the Alpine Fault is defined by the abrupt truncation of mountain spurs against
the adjacent plains.
Movement along the Alpine Fault has been largely horizontal throughout
most of its 40-million-year history (at a rate of up to 1 cm/yr). However, signif-
icant vertical movements associated with transpression and thrusting along the
fault zone have also occurred. For example, a change in plate motions about 6
to 7 million years ago initiated horizontal compression across the fault zone.
This compression caused the southern Alps to rise to their present height of
over 3500 m (Figure 20.17).
FIGURE 20.15 Pull-apart basins in the Gulf of Aqaba and the Dead Sea dominate this photograph taken by astronauts aboard the Space
Shuttle. Such basins are caused by movement on strike-slip faults that have sharp bends and offsets of the major faults (inset). These form three deep
basins along the floor of the Gulf of Aqaba and the Dead Sea basin that lies below sea level.
Saudi
Arabia
Sinai
Elat
0 30
km
EARTHQUAKES AT TRANSFORM BOUNDARIES
Earthquakes at transform plate boundaries are especially abundant. The
seismicity is shallow and shows strike-slip characteristics.
Earthquakes are especially common on transform plate boundaries (Figure 20.18).
In fact, most of the earthquakes along the oceanic ridge system are actually on
transform offsets to the ridge, rather than on the ridge itself. The energy released
by these earthquakes is about 100 times greater than that released from earth-
quakes along the ridge crest. The abundance of earthquakes is related to the
lithosphere temperature along the cooler transform as compared with the hotter
ridge. In the relatively cold lithosphere along a transform fault, brittle fracture is
FIGURE 20.17 The Alpline Fault,
New Zealand, is a strike-slip fault that
connects two plate boundaries. The valley in
this view was created by differential eriosion
along the long linear fault. Deformation
along the fault created the high Alps of the
southern islands. (Courtesy of New Zealand
Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences)
T
o
n
g
a
-
K
e
r
m
a
d
e
c
T
r
e
n
c
h
400
Alpine Fault
Late Paleozoic
metamorphic rocks
Sedimentary, volcanic,
and ultramafic rocks
Cambrian-Devonian
schist and gneiss
Ophiolites
Alpine fault
Pacific
plate
Australian
plate
M
a
c
q
u
a
r
i
e
T
r
e
n
c
h
0
km
Australian plate
Pacific plate
200 km
(Magnitude > 3)
Depth (km)
0 30 100 400
A
lp
in
e
F
a
u
lt
FIGURE 20.16 The
transform system of the Alpine
Fault, New Zealand, connects the
west-dipping Tonga-Kermadec
subduction zone to the east-
dipping Macquarie subduction
zone. Note the tremendous
displacement of major rock units
on the Alpine Fault. The
northern subduction zone dips
east and the southern subduction
zone dips west, as shown by the
pattern of progressively deeper
earthquakes. (Courtesy of the
New Zealand GeoNet Project)
590 Chapt er 20
Tr ans f or m Pl at e Boundar i es 591
FIGURE 20.18 Shallow earthquakes
on a midocean ridge are more frequent on
the transform faults, where the crust is
cooler, thicker, and more brittle, than on the
spreading ridge itself. The region directly
beneath the ridge is too hot and ductile to
produce many earthquakes. Strike-slip
earthquakes (blue) form on transform
faults and earthquakes on normal faults
(red) are common on ridges. (Courtesy of
D. T. Sandwell and W. H. F. Smith, Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, University of
California at San Diego)
0 1000
km
Transform earthquakes
Ridge
earthquakes
common. Deformation by ductile flow is more common in the hotter rocks right
at the ridge, and earthquakes are consequently less common.
Earthquakes along oceanic transform faults are shallowmost are less than
10 km deepand small compared with those occurring at convergent plate mar-
gins (as deep as 650 km) and along continental transform faults (as deep as
20 km). Moreover, shallow earthquakes along the transforms are rarely related to
magma intrusion or volcanism as are earthquakes at the ridge crest.
In the 1960s, identification of earthquake patterns along oceanic fracture zones
was fundamental to establishing our present understanding of transform fault mo-
tion. Early workers found that most of the earthquakes along transform faults are
related to strike-slip movement on faults perpendicular to the ridge crest. In con-
trast, earthquakes along the ridge axis occur on normal faults parallel to the ridge.
As predicted by the plate tectonic theory, earthquakes only occur on the active
transform fault zonetypically the area between two ridge axesand few occur
along the inactive part of the fracture zone (Figures 20.2 and 20.18).
Earthquakes are also abundant along continental transform faults. The tremors
that plague much of western California occur along the San Andreas transform sys-
tem (Figure 20.19). One of the most famous earthquakes in history was the 1906
San Francisco event. This shallow earthquake lasted only a minute but had a mag-
nitude of 8.2. The shaking ruptured gas lines, and the fire that followed caused
most of the destruction (an estimated $400 million in damagea great value at that
timeand a reported loss of 700 lives). Horizontal displacement of up to 7 m oc-
curred over a distance of about 400 km, offsetting roads, fences, and buildings.
MAGMATISM AND METAMORPHISM
AT TRANSFORM PLATE BOUNDARIES
Volcanoes rarely develop on transform faults, but small volumes of basalt
may erupt in pull-apart basins. Metamorphism along transform fault zones
creates deformation fabrics, seafloor metamorphism, and serpentinite.
At transforms that juxtapose old crust against an active spreading ridge, the gen-
eration and emplacement of basaltic magma is modified because of the cooler
temperatures induced by the adjacent thick, cold lithosphere. The temperature be-
comes lower along the ridge axis as it approaches a transform fault (Figure 20.9).
The cooler temperatures diminish volcanic activity because it disrupts the

Knowing your location accurately is vital in almost all geologic
studies. It is important for research ships at sea, for oil drilling
rigs on land, and even for geologists collecting an individual
specimen from a rock outcrop. Traditionally, geologists have
determined their locations in the field by consulting a topo-
graphic map or aerial photograph and using distinctive land-
marks to approximate their position. These locations were
usually accurate to within a few meters. If more precise loca-
tions were needed, laborious measurements with surveying
equipment, a transit, or a steel tape could be used.
Ancient people used the stars to navigate. Stars and con-
stellations could be found in predictable places in the sky.
By knowing their own position relative to the stars, early nav-
igators could calculate a good fix on their location on the
globe. Today, the Global Positioning System(commonly ab-
breviated as GPS) uses radio signals (instead of light) from
a constellation of 24 satellites (instead of stars) to find the
location of a spot on the surface. In effect, GPS uses these ar-
tificial stars as reference points to calculate positions that
can be accurate to within a few millimeters. The satellites are
launched and maintained by the U.S. Department of De-
fense. GPS receivers are small enough to carry in the field.
A GPS unit measures the distance from your location
on Earth to four or more satellites in orbit and then it cal-
culates each distance by accurately measuring how long it
takes radio signals from the satellite to reach the receiver.
Using a method similar to that used to find earthquake epi-
centers (Figure 18.4), four distance spheres are formed
and their mutual intersection gives your location on Earth.
Obviously, the accuracy of the location depends on the
accuracy of the distance measurements. One way to im-
prove the accuracy is to stay in the same place for a long
time and allow many readings to be averaged. For precise
measurements, like those described below, a GPS receiver
may need to remain in the same place for an entire day.
Once a location is known, say, for a sample collection site,
a geologist may be satisfied and never return to this location.
But others interested in plate motion may come back to the
same site again and again to measure the changing position
of that spot. Remember, most plates move a few centimeters
each year, a distance well within the capabilities of a precise
GPS survey. Since the frame of reference (the satellite) is off
the planet, an absolute direction and amount of motion can
be found by comparing successive measurements.
The map below shows the power of repeated GPS survey-
ing. The arrows are vectors showing the speed and direction
of movement of each surveyed spot. It is immediately appar-
ent that parts of coastal California are quicklysliding to the
northwest at a rate of about 5 cm/yr.The rapidly moving region
is on the western side of the San Andreas fault system (Figure
20.13).These velocity estimates are very similar to those found
by measuring offset features on the fault and constitute a pow-
erful affirmation of the role played by moving plates over mil-
lions of years.
STATE OF
THE ART
Global Positioning Systems
0 100
km
Active fault
CA
NV
AZ
Rate and direction
of plate motion
10 mm/yr
(Courtesy of A. Johnson/National Air and Space
Museum/Smithsonian Institution)
(Modified from R. A. Bennett, J. L. Davis, and B. P. Wernicke)
592
Tr ans f or m Pl at e Boundar i es 593
migration of the hot upwelling asthenosphere and lessens the volume of basaltic
melt generated. As a result, the amount of magma supplied to the shallow magma
chamber decreases as the transform boundary is approached. Consequently, the
crust becomes thinner near the transform.
Some continental transform faults are locally associated with basaltic volcanism.
Such leaky transforms usually have pull-apart basins, where small volumes of
basalt erupt as lava flows and cinder cones. The lavas along the Dead Sea transform
(Figure 20.14) and those near southern Californias Salton Sea are good examples
of this type of volcanism. Partial melting in the mantle occurs when it rises to fill
the small voids created by the pull-apart basins.
The most characteristic type of metamorphism that occurs at transform plate
boundaries is caused by the horizontal shearing motion. As the two plates grind
against one another, fault breccias and fine-grained mylonite are created; at high-
er temperatures, ductile deformation textures develop. Where a transform fault
meets an active ridge crest, metamorphic recrystallization of basaltic lava flows
and dikes is also aided by the influx of seawater into hot crust exposed by fault-
ing in the fracture zone.
FIGURE 20.19 Earthquakes on the San Andreas continental transform system are concentrated along the
fault and its branching subsidiaries. Almost all of the earthquakes occur at depths less than 15 km. The southern
part of the fault has had many historic earthquakes while the northern segment has not. Perhaps strain is
building toward a large earthquake on the northern strand. (Modified from A. Robinson)
1999
P
a
c
i
f
i
c
p
l
a
t
e
fracture
zone
Gorda plate
S.F.
1906
1838
1868
1892
Eureka
1980
1922
1989
1983
1857
1952
Parkfield
N
e
v
a
d
a
C
a
l
i
f
o
r
n
i
a
S.B.
1812
L.A.
S.D.
1979
1940
1987
1968
1918
1812
1971
1927
1992
San Andreas Fault
Other faults
Major earthquakes
Cities
0 50 100 150
km
Salton Sea
N
o
r
t
h
A
m
e
r
i
c
a
n
p
l
a
t
e
D
e
p
t
h
i
n
k
m
15
0
5
20
E
a
r
t
h
q
u
a
k
e
s
10
Inactive zone
Active zone
Mendocino
Parkfield
Why are earthquakes limited to shallow
depths along transform faults?
594
7. Earthquake epicenters (red dots for selected earthquakes
with magnitudes greater than about 4) clearly delineate
the patches of broken ground found by field geologists
and revealed here by satellite photography.
Interpretations
These observations clearly show that the lineaments seen
on the satellite map were created by movement on a series
of strike-slip faults that cut across California. As one block
slides past another, strain builds up until the rocks break
and release the energy during an earthquake. Repeated
earthquakes along the faults, break, crush, and pulverize
rocks along the fault plane. These brecciated zones are more
susceptible to weathering and erosion. The linear fabric of
the mountains was carved by weathering and erosion along
these zones of weakness. Long term movement on the San
Andreas fault is shown by the offsets of many geological
features which imply that the rate of displacement along
this strand of the fault is 2 to 3 cm/y. These interpretations
led to the conclusion that the San Andreas fault system is
a transform plate boundary that separates the North Amer-
ican plate from the Pacific plate.
GeoLogic
Transform(ation) of California
Offset pluton
160 km
Offset pluton
160 km
Pacific
plate
Pacific
plate
North American
plate
North American
plate
Area of
image
Los Angeles
This dramatic view of southern California is a hybrid be-
tween a map, a photograph, and a three-dimensional sculp-
ture based on remote sensing and innumerable measure-
ments of elevation. Clearly displayed are the features that
led geologists to conclude that a transform fault system has
shaped the terrain.
Observations
1. Note first of all, the sharp, nearly straight lines that sep-
arate the mountains from the basins.
2. A pronounced linear fabric in the mountains parallels
these lines.
3. Geologists working on the ground find horizontal dis-
placement and breccias along these zones showing that
each one is a strike-slip fault.
4. Thus, the San Andreas is not a single fault, but a system
of many faults (yellow lines).
5. A pluton is sliced and offset by one of the vertical faults
in this system. Each part of the Triassic pluton is now sep-
arated by 160 km.
6. Earthquakes make this motion tragically obvious; each
year 2 or 3 large earthquakes rock the San Andreas fault
system causing horizontal displacements of several meters
at a time. (Courtesy of NASA/JPL/NIMA)

Tr ans f or m Pl at e Boundar i es 595
KEY TERMS
fracture zone (p. 576)
leaky transform (p. 580)
mylonite (p. 578)
pull-apart basin (p. 583)
ridge-ridge transform (p. 578)
ridge-trench transform (p. 578)
serpentinite ridges (p. 584)
shearing (p. 576)
transform boundary (p. 576)
transform fault (p. 576)
transpression (p. 583)
transtension (p. 583)
trench-trench transform
(p. 578)
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Contrast the movement of plates at a transform boundary
with that at divergent and convergent boundaries.
2. How does a transform fault differ from a simple strike-slip
fault?
3. What are the three main types of transform plate
boundaries?
4. Draw a simple line map of the Romanche fracture zone
(Figure 20.4). Show midocean ridges, inactive fracture
zones, the active fault zone, and the older colder side of the
transform fault zone.
5. List two examples of each of the three main types of trans-
form faults.
6. Why is there a steep cliff along one side of an oceanic frac-
ture zone?
7. Compare the features of the Clipperton (small offset) with
the Romanche (large offset) transform zones.
8. What are the effects of the cold wall of lithosphere where
an oceanic spreading ridge meets a transform fault?
9. What geologic features mark the surface expression of a
continental transform fault?
10. Outline the development of a pull-apart basin along a conti-
nental transform fault.
11. How can a compressional fold belt form along a transform
plate boundary?
12. Where do you think oil might form in connection with a
transform fault system such as the San Andreas Fault?
13. Why is seismicity common on a transform fault between
two midocean ridge segments but rare on the long fracture
zone that extends beyond the ridge?
14. Why is volcanism rare along transform plate boundaries?
15. What kinds of metamorphic rocks would you expect to find
along an oceanic transform fault zone?
ADDITIONAL READINGS
Collier, M., 1999. A Land in Motion: Californias San Andreas
Fault. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.
Keary, P., and F. J. Vine. 1996. Global Tectonics, 2nd ed. Boston:
Blackwell Scientific.
Moores, E. M., and R. J. Twiss. 1995. Tectonics. San Francisco:
Freeman.
Nicolas, A. 1995. The Mid-Oceanic Ridges: Mountains Below Sea
Level. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Earths Dynamic Systems Website
The Companion Website at www.prenhall.com/hamblin
provides you with an on-line study guide and additional
resources for each chapter, including:
On-line Quizzes (Chapter Review, Visualizing Geology,
Quick Review, Vocabulary Flash Cards) with instant feedback
Quantitative Problems
Critical Thinking Exercises
Web Resources
Earths Dynamic Systems CD
Examine the CD that came with your text. It is designed
to help you visualize and thus understand the concepts
in this chapter. It includes:
Animations of transform fault motion
Simulated flights down an oceanic transform fault
Slides showing deformation along transform faults
A direct link to the Companion Website
MULTIMEDIA TOOLS