![]() Transform faults generate very complex geological relationships. The transform and ridge segments preserve an orthogonal relationship in almost all cases, because this geometry creates a least work configuration, creating the shortest length of ridge possible on the spherical Earth. ![]() ![]() There is typically some vertical motion along this segment of the fracture zone, since the two segments of the plate have different ages, and subside at different rates. After the ridge/transform intersection is passed, the fracture zone juxtaposes two segments of the same plate. Fracture zones are not extensions of the transform faults, and they are no longer considered plate boundaries. At this point, the transform fault is typically intruded by mid-ocean ridge magma, and the apparent extension of the transform, known as a fracture zone, juxtaposes two segments of the same plate that move together horizontally. The two plates then slide past each other along the transform fault between the two ridge segments, until the plate on one side of the transform meets the ridge on the other side of the transform. Magma upwells along the ridge segments, cools and crystallizes, becoming part of one of the diverging plates. Transform plate boundaries in the oceans include the system of ridge-ridge transform faults that are an integral part of the mid-ocean ridge system. ![]()
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