transform fault

American  

[trans-fawrm fawlt] / ˈtræns fɔrm ˌfɔlt /

noun

Geology, Oceanography.

1. a strike-slip fault that offsets a mid-ocean ridge in opposing directions on either side of the axis of seafloor spreading.

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transform fault Scientific  

/ trăns′fôrm′ /

1. A type of strike-slip fault that accommodates the relative horizontal slip between other tectonic elements, such as tectonic plates, and is common along the edges of plates in mid-ocean ridge regions. The lateral displacement along transform faults often ends or changes form abruptly.

2. See Note at fault

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Etymology

Origin of transform fault

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

The rocks that Klein and his colleagues analyzed from the submerged flanks of the St. Peter and St. Paul Archipelago in the St. Paul's oceanic transform fault, about 500 km off the coast of Brazil, tells a fascinating and previously unknown story about parts of the geological carbon cycle.

From Science Daily

To better understand carbon cycling between Earth's mantle and the ocean, Klein, Schroeder, and colleagues studied the formation of soapstone "and other magnesite-bearing assemblages during mineral carbonation of mantle peridotite" in the St. Paul's transform fault, the paper notes.

From Science Daily

"Fueled by magmatism in or below the root zone of the transform fault and subsequent degassing, the fault constitutes a conduit for CO2-rich hydrothermal fluids, while carbonation of peridotite represents a potentially vast sink for the emitted CO2."

From Science Daily

"We went to the archipelago to explore for low-temperature hydrothermal activity, and we failed miserably in finding any such activity there. It was unbelievable that we were able to find these rocks in a transform fault, because we found them by chance while looking for something else."

From Science Daily

Eventually, the system extends southward and becomes the Dead Sea Transform fault system, running through coastal Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan to the Red Sea.

From Los Angeles Times