Oceanic broad multifault transform plate boundaries

Research Article| January 01, 2002 Oceanic broad multifault transform plate boundaries Marco Ligi; Marco Ligi 1Istituto di Geologia Marina, Consiglio Nazionale Ricerche, Via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Enrico Bonatti; Enrico Bonatti 2Dipartimento Scienze della Terra, Università Roma La Sapienza, 00185 Rome, Italy, and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Luca Gasperini; Luca Gasperini 3Istituto di Geologia Marina, Consiglio Nazionale Ricerche, Via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Alexei N.B. Poliakov Alexei N.B. Poliakov 4Laboratoire de Geophysique, Centre National Recherche Scientifique, Université Montpellier II, 34095 Montpellier, France Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Marco Ligi 1Istituto di Geologia Marina, Consiglio Nazionale Ricerche, Via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy Enrico Bonatti 2Dipartimento Scienze della Terra, Università Roma La Sapienza, 00185 Rome, Italy, and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964, USA Luca Gasperini 3Istituto di Geologia Marina, Consiglio Nazionale Ricerche, Via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy Alexei N.B. Poliakov 4Laboratoire de Geophysique, Centre National Recherche Scientifique, Université Montpellier II, 34095 Montpellier, France Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 13 Apr 2001 Revision Received: 14 Sep 2001 Accepted: 26 Sep 2001 First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (2002) 30 (1): 11–14. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0011:OBMTPB>2.0.CO;2 Article history Received: 13 Apr 2001 Revision Received: 14 Sep 2001 Accepted: 26 Sep 2001 First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Marco Ligi, Enrico Bonatti, Luca Gasperini, Alexei N.B. Poliakov; Oceanic broad multifault transform plate boundaries. Geology 2002;; 30 (1): 11–14. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0011:OBMTPB>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Oceanic transform plate boundaries consist of a single, narrow (a few kilometers wide) strike-slip seismic zone offsetting two mid-ocean ridge segments. However, we define here a new class of oceanic transform boundaries, with broad complex multifault zones of deformation, similar to some continental strike-slip systems. Examples are the 750-km- long, 120-km-wide Andrew Bain transform on the Southwest Indian Ridge, and the Romanche transform, where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is offset by a lens-shaped, ∼900-km- long, ∼100-km-wide sliver of deformed lithosphere bound by two major transform valleys. One of the valleys is seismically highly active and constitutes the present-day principal transform boundary. However, strike-slip seismic events also occur in the second valley and elsewhere in the deformed zone. Some of these events may be triggered by earthquakes from the principal boundary. Numerical modeling predicts the development of wide multiple transform boundaries when the age offset is above a threshold value of ∼30 m.y., i.e., in extra-long (>500 km) slow-slip transforms. Multiple boundaries develop so that strike-slip ruptures avoid very thick and strong lithosphere. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.