Abstract
RECENT work has indicated acceleration of motion on the San Andreas Fault1, but previous studies have not delineated variable rates of motion with time between the Pacific and American plates. Offsets on the San Andreas and associated fault systems yield a mean rate of motion for a given period of time and deal with motion within the area of a wide plate boundary; therefore, these do not show total relative motion or variations in velocity between the two plates2. Magnetic anomalies can be used to measure the total relative motion and variations in velocity between the two plates. But magnetic anomalies at the mouth of the Gulf of California represent only the past few million years of movement which has been going on for at least 25 m.y. (ref. 3). Here I describe a method by which the amount and rates of motion between California and the Pacific plate with time can be determined.
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HEIN, J. Deep-sea Sediment Source Areas: Implications of Variable Rates of Movement between California and the Pacific Plate. Nature 241, 40–41 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/241040a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/241040a0
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