Is the San Andreas Fault convergent or transform?
Is the San Andreas Fault convergent or transform?
transform plate boundary
The San Andreas Fault is the transform plate boundary where a thin sliver of western California, as part of the Pacific Plate, slides north-northwestward past the rest of North America.
What is the difference between a transform fault and a transcurrent fault?
Transform faults are boundaries of solid crustal plates which always terminate at extensional or shortening structures, and as a rule are straight. Transcurrent faults are internal features of crustal deformation which terminate by splaying or bending, and are usually curved throughout.
What kind of transform fault is the San Andreas and what does the San Andreas Fault separate?
continental transform
The San Andreas Fault System. The San Andreas Fault is one of the most intensely studied faults on the planet. It is a continental transform that separates the Pacific plate from the North American plate along its entire trace.
What type of transform boundary is the San Andreas Fault?
According to the theory of plate tectonics, the San Andreas Fault represents the transform (strike-slip) boundary between two major plates of the Earth’s crust: the Northern Pacific to the south and west and the North American to the north and east.
What is the largest earthquake fault in California?
The San Andreas fault
The San Andreas fault is the primary feature of the system and the longest fault in California, slicing through Los Angeles County along the north side of the San Gabriel Mountains. It can cause powerful earthquakes—as big as magnitude 8.
What cities will be affected by San Andreas fault?
The cities of Desert Hot Springs, San Bernardino, Wrightwood, Palmdale, Gorman, Frazier Park, Daly City, Point Reyes Station and Bodega Bay rest on the San Andreas fault line.
Can San Andreas really happen?
No. Magnitude 9 earthquakes only occur on subduction zones. As stated above, there hasn’t been an active subduction zone under San Francisco or Los Angeles for millions of years. However, earthquake intensity along the modern-day San Andreas fault maxes out at approximately 8.3 (The Hollywood Reporter).
What are 3 things that are formed at a transform boundary?
Transform boundaries represent the borders found in the fractured pieces of the Earth’s crust where one tectonic plate slides past another to create an earthquake fault zone. Linear valleys, small ponds, stream beds split in half, deep trenches, and scarps and ridges often mark the location of a transform boundary.
