What type of plate boundary is Owen fracture zone?

We show that the OFZ is a pure strike-slip boundary between the Arabian and Indian plates. The geometry of the active fault system is probably controlled both by the pre-existing faults of the paleo OFZ and by the topography of the Owen Ridge since the 20°N-Basin is located at the main threshold of the ridge.

Where is the zone of fracture?

Fracture zones are the scars left in plate interiors by the action of transform faults that offset mid-ocean ridge segments. This transform faulting occurs at the ends of spreading segments where melt supply may be either reduced or enhanced, leading to crustal thickness contrasts across transform faults.

What is a fracture zone where is an example of a fracture zone?

The Sovanco Fracture Zone is a dextral-slip transform fault running between the Juan de Fuca and Explorer Ridge in the North Pacific Ocean. The fracture zone is 125 km long and 15 km wide.

Is strike-slip fault transform?

A transform fault is a special variety of strike-slip fault that accommodates relative horizontal slip between other tectonic elements, such as oceanic crustal plates. Often extend from oceanic ridges.

Are fracture zones seismically active?

Fracture zones were historically viewed as tectonically inactive structures (Isacks et al., 1968). We now recognize that several of these fracture zones are seismically active (Lay, 2019), and have been generating large-scale earthquakes like the Sumatra-Wharton Basin Earthquake in 2012 (Mb8.

What fracture zone causes the lateral breaks?

what causes lateral breaks? fracture zones extend outward from the ridge axis. they are seismically inactive areas that show evidence of past transform fault activity.

What is true fracture zone?

The fracture zones are not plate boundaries. The crust on both sides of a fracture zone are part of the same plate and moving in the same direction (see below). Fracture zones exist as bathymetric features extending many hundreds of kilometers from the midocean ridge.

Can earthquakes occur on fracture zones?

Earthquakes do not occur along fracture zones except where they offset an oceanic ridge or rise axis. The relationships between fracture zones and magnetic and seismic phenomena can be explained by the theory of plate tectonics (q.v.), notably in terms of the mechanism of seafloor spreading.

What is most likely to be found at fracture zones?

along fracture zones. What is most likely to be found at fracture zones? a. along deep ocean trenches.

What is the most famous strike-slip fault?

The San Andreas Fault—made infamous by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake—is a strike-slip fault. This means two fault blocks are moving past each other horizontally.

Can a strike-slip fault cause a tsunami?

Strike-slip faults are not usually included in tsunami hazard assessments as they generally cause large horizontal (with limited vertical) displacements, and so are considered insufficient to generate large tsunamis unless they trigger a submarine landslide.

What part of the ocean floor is the youngest?

mid-ocean ridge
The youngest ocean floor is located on the mid-ocean ridge. Where is the oldest ocean floor located? The oldest ocean floor is located near the continents, next to a subduction zone. There are rocks on every continent that are 3 to 4 billion years old.

Where is the Owen Fracture Zone in the Indian Ocean?

The Owen Fracture Zone ( OFZ ), though misnamed a fracture zone, is a transform fault in the northwest Indian Ocean that separates the Arabian and African Plates from the Indian Plate. Extending north-northeast from where the Carlsberg Ridge meets the Sheba ridge in the south to the Makran Subduction Zone in…

What are the names of the fracture zones?

The plates that host the fractures are Nazca, Pacific, Antarctic, Juan de Fuca and Cocos among others. Fracture zones being subducted under Southern and Central America are generally southwest-northeast oriented reflecting the relative motion of Cocos, Nazca and the Antarctic Plates.

What is the length of the Owen Ridge?

800 km (500 mi)-long, the Owen Fracture Zone runs along the Owen Ridge which is divided into two. The Southern Owen Ridge, 300 km (190 mi) and 50 km (31 mi)-wide, is a near-linear structure that drops steeply 2,000 m (6,600 ft) on its eastern side.

Where are the fractures in the Pacific Ocean?

Most fracture zones in the Pacific Ocean originate from large mid-ocean ridges (also called “rises”) such as the East Pacific Rise, Chile Rise and Juan de Fuca Ridge. The plates that host the fractures are Nazca, Pacific, Antarctic, Juan de Fuca and Cocos among others.