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Transform fault

Diagram showing a transform fault with two plates moving in opposite directions
Transform fault (the red lines)

A transform fault or transform boundary, is a fault along a plate boundary where the motion is predominantly horizontal.[1] It ends abruptly where it connects to another plate boundary, either another transform, a spreading ridge, or a subduction zone.[2] A transform fault is a special case of a strike-slip fault that also forms a plate boundary.

Most such faults are found in oceanic crust, where they accommodate the lateral offset between segments of divergent boundaries, forming a zigzag pattern. This results from oblique seafloor spreading where the direction of motion is not perpendicular to the trend of the overall divergent boundary. A smaller number of such faults are found on land, although these are generally better-known, such as the San Andreas Fault and North Anatolian Fault.

  1. ^ Moores E.M.; Twiss R.J. (2014). Tectonics. Waveland Press. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-4786-2660-2.
  2. ^ Kearey, K. A. (2007). Global Tectonics. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 84–90.

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