transform fault
[ trans-fawrm fawlt ]
nounGeology, Oceanography.
a strike-slip fault that offsets a mid-ocean ridge in opposing directions on either side of the axis of seafloor spreading.: Compare fracture zone.
Origin of transform fault
1First recorded in 1970–75
Words Nearby transform fault
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Scientific definitions for transform fault
transform fault
[ trăns′fôrm′ ]
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. See Note at fault.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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