EarthRef.org Reference Database (ERR)
Development and Maintenance by the EarthRef.org Database Team

Detailed Reference Information
Gallo et al. 1986
Gallo, D.G., Fox, P.J. and MacDonald, K.C. (1986). A sea beam investigation of the Clipperton Transform Fault: The morphotectonic expression of a fast slipping transform boundary. Journal of Geophysical Research 91: doi: 10.1029/JB091iB03p03455. issn: 0148-0227.

A regional scale bathymetric map of the fast slipping (11.0 cm/yr) Clipperton transform boundary and adjoining East Pacific Rise segments has been constructed using the high-resolution capabilities of Sea Beam. The transform domain is 85 km long, varies in width from 10 to 20 km, and is defined by an assemblage of transform-parallel ridges and troughs, the largest of which is a 40-km-long median ridge that stands up to 700 m above the surrounding seafloor. These major topographic elements of the transform domain are bisected by a very narrow (<1 km) swath of strongly lineated terrain composed of elongate depressions, narrow lozenge-shaped ridges, and gullies that integrate spatially to create a narrow zone of disturbed topography. This zone trends 082¿ and cuts like a knife across the grain of the Clipperton transform domain, linking one truncated ridge tip with the other. We interpret this swath of disturbed terrain to be the product of strike-slip tectonism thereby fixing the location of the present-day plate boundary. The present-day structural geometry of the Clipperton transform appears relatively simple and characterized by a narrow strike-slip plate boundary linking two offset ridge axis.

BACKGROUND DATA FILES

Abstract

Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research
http://www.agu.org/journals/jb/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
2000 Florida Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20009-1277
USA
1-202-462-6900
1-202-328-0566
service@agu.org
Click to clear formClick to return to previous pageClick to submit