List of fracture zones

Fracture zones are common features in the geology of oceanic basins. Globally most fault zones are located on divergent plate boundaries on oceanic crust. This means that they are located around mid-ocean ridges and trend perpendicular to them. The term fracture zone is used almost exclusively for features on oceanic crust; similar structures on continental crust are instead termed transform or strike slip faults, a denomination active fracture zones also can have. Some fracture zones have been created by mid-ocean ridge segments that have been subducted and may not longer exist.

Major fractures zones of the Atlantic can be seen on this ocean depth map

Pacific Ocean

Major Pacific trenches (1–10) and fracture zones (11–20): 1. Kermadec 2. Tonga 3. Bougainville 4. Mariana 5. Izu–Ogasawara 6. Japan 7. Kuril–Kamchatka 8. Aleutian 9. Middle America 10. Peru–Chile 11. Mendocino 12. Murray 13. Molokai 14. Clarion 15. Clipperton 16. Challenger 17. Eltanin 18. Udintsev 19. East Pacific Rise (S-shaped) 20. Nazca Ridge

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. 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.

Chile Rise

The fracture zones of the Chile Rise trend in a west to east fashion with the most southern ones taking a slightly more southwest to northeast orientation. This non-perpendicular relation to Chile's coast reflects the oblique subduction of Nazca Plate under southern Chile. West of Chile rise the fracture zones are hosted in the Antarctic Plate. Some fracture zones such as Chile and Valdivia make up large sections of the Nazca-Antarctic Plate boundary.

Map of the Chile Rise and its fracture zones in Nazca and the Antarctic Plates

Name	Minimum length in km	Length of transform boundary in km	Position at Ridge
Chile	2,250 (1,400)	1,100 (680)	35°32′24″S 104°37′3″W
Chiloé	1,750 (1,090)	50 (30)	42°59′43″S 83°11′5″W
Darwin		50 (30)	45°54′29″S 76°25′31″W
Desolación		0
Esmeralda		0	49°06′47″S 80°12′33″W
Guafo	1,550 (960)	280 (170)	44°47′55″S 80°15′53″W
Guamblin	1,300 (810)	70 (40)	45°44′7″S 77°27′32″W
Madre de Dios		0
Mocha	450 (280)	0	39°14′24″S 77°22′59″W
Taitao		0
Tres Montes		0
Valdivia	2,100 (1,300)	650 (400)	41°23′25″S 87°23′36″W

East Pacific Rise

Name	Length as plate boundary in km	Coordinates
Easter
Mendaña	0
Nazca	0	19°49′28″S 77°35′53″W
Quiros	0

Galapagos Rise

Panama

Juan de Fuca and Gorda Ridges

Molokai and Murray fracture zones shown in the list were created by ridge segments that no longer exist.

A map of the Juan de Fuca Plate

Blanco
Mendocino
Molokai
Murray
Sovanco

Atlantic Ocean

In the Atlantic Ocean most fracture zones originate from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which runs from north to south, and are therefore west to east oriented in general. There are about 300 fracture zones, with an average north-south separation of 55 kilometres (34 mi):[1] two for each degree of latitude. Physically it makes sense to group Atlantic fracture zones into three categories:[2]

Small offset: length of transform fault less than 30 kilometres (19 mi)
Medium offset: offset over 30 kilometers
Large offset: offset several hundreds of kilometers

Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Northern Hemisphere)

Name	Minimum length in km	Length of transform fault in km	Position at Ridge
Saint Paul[3]	1451	454	0.661°N 27.931°W / 0.661; -27.931
Saint Peter[3]	333	40	2.532°N 31.008°W / 2.532; -31.008
Strakhov[3] (formerly:Four North[4])	1814	100	3.933°N 32.116°W / 3.933; -32.116
Sierra Leone[3]	1111	52	6.230°N 33.588°W / 6.230; -33.588
Bogdanov[3]	173	84	7.135°N 34.351°W / 7.135; -34.351
Vernadsky[3]	194	107	7.693°N 37.483°W / 7.693; -37.483
Doldrums[3]	381	144	8.119°N 38.750°W / 8.119; -38.750
Arkhangelskiy[3]	691	99	8.855°N 39.938°W / 8.855; -39.938
Vema[3]	822	300	10.726°N 42.333°W / 10.726; -42.333
Mercurius[5]		39	12.132°N 43.924°W / 12.132; -43.924
Marathon[5]		78	12.611°N 44.430°W / 12.611; -44.430
Fifteen Twenty, also known as Barracuda or Cabo Verde[3]	1195	195[5]	15.320°N 45.871°W / 15.320; -45.871
Vidal[2]		50	17.832°N 46.589°W / 17.832; -46.589
Luymes South[2]		30	18.541°N 46.465°W / 18.541; -46.465
Luymes North[2]		24	18.967°N 46.128°W / 18.967; -46.128
Snellius[2]		41	20.616°N 45.756°W / 20.616; -45.756
Kane[3]	1040	150[6]	23.718°N 45.583°W / 23.718; -45.583
Northern[2]	1040	9	25.689°N 45.193°W / 25.689; -45.193
Tyro[2]		15	29.365°N 43.007°W / 29.365; -43.007
Atlantis[3]	843	66	30.068°N 42.372°W / 30.068; -42.372
Cruiser[2]		9	32.323°N 40.195°W / 32.323; -40.195
Charis[2]		13	33.059°N 39.628°W / 33.059; -39.628
Hayes[3]	624	151	33.615°N 38.439°W / 33.615; -38.439
Oceanographer[3]	751	148	35.149°N 35.562°W / 35.149; -35.562
Tydeman		21	36.641°N 33.464°W / 36.641; -33.464
Pico (to the west)[2][3]	719	67	37.468°N 31.899°W / 37.468; -31.899
East Azores (to the east)[2][3]	758	67	37.468°N 31.899°W / 37.468; -31.899
Kurchatov[3]	174	20	40.537°N 29.456°W / 40.537; -29.456
Petrov[3]	74	9	40.537°N 29.456°W / 40.537; -29.456
Maxwell[3]		21	47.636°N 27.527°W / 47.636; -27.527
Faraday[3]	506	23	49.711°N 28.636°W / 49.711; -28.636
Charlie-Gibbs[3]	2000	350[2]	52.624°N 33.198°W / 52.624; -33.198
Bight[3]	336	23	56.721°N 33.792°W / 56.721; -33.792
Jan Mayen[3]	374	211	71.372°N 9.405°E / 71.372; 9.405
Greenland (to the west)[7]	0	365	74.04°N 8.82°E / 74.04; 8.82
Senja (to the east)[7]	0	398	74.04°N 8.82°E / 74.04; 8.82

Fracture zones involved in the early opening of the North Atlantic

American side	African side
Hudson Fracture Zone
Snorri Fracture Zone
Cartwright Fracture Zone
Julian Haab Fracture Zone
Minna Fracture Zone
Leif Fracture Zone
Newfoundland Fracture Zone[8]
Kelvin Fracture Zone[9]	Canary Fracture Zone[9]
Cape Fear Fracture Zone[9]	Cape Verde Fracture Zone[9]
Bahama Fracture Zone[9]	Guinea Fracture Zone[9]

Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Southern Hemisphere)

Name	Minimum length in km	Length of transform fault in km	Position at Ridge
Romanche[3]	2445	950	0.49°S 20.49°W / -0.49; -20.49
Chain[3]	1315	269	1.213°S 14.229°W / -1.213; -14.229
Ascension[3]	1149	264	6.928°S 12.283°W / -6.928; -12.283
Bode Verde[3]	3018	232	11.686°S 13.936°W / -11.686; -13.936
Cardno[3]	1649	87	14.076°S 14.056°W / -14.076; -14.056
Tetyaev[3]	810	122	16.271°S 13.719°W / -16.271; -13.719
Saint Helena[3]	1184	19	16.617°S 14.344°W / -16.617; -14.344
Hotspur[3]	1446	113	17.721°S 13.329°W / -17.721; -13.329
Martin Vaz[3]	1324	26	18.594°S 12.633°W / -18.594; -12.633
Rio Grande[3]	1774	156	29.081°S 13.067°W / -29.081; -13.067
Tristan Da Cunha[3]	1014	26	38.388°S 16.796°W / -38.388; -16.796
Gough[3]	1057	42	40.637°S 16.637°W / -40.637; -16.637
Conrad (to the west)[3]	316	0	55.185°S 0.133°W / -55.185; -0.133
Bouvet (to the east)[3]	198	0	55.185°S 0.133°W / -55.185; -0.133

Indian Ocean

Diamantina

Southwest Indian Ridge

Bouvet Fracture Zone
Moshesh Fracture Zone
Islas Orcadas Fracture Zone
Shaka Fracture Zone
Dutoit Fracture Zone
Prince Edward Fracture Zone
Discovery II Fracture Zone
Indomed Fracture Zone
Gallieni Fracture Zone
Atlantis II Fracture Zone[10]
Novara Fracture Zone[10]
Melville Fracture Zone[10]

Carlsberg Ridge

Owen

Central Indian Ridge

Mauritius

Lakshadweeo-Chagos Ridge

Vishnu

Southern Ocean

Endurance
Eltanin
Hero
Quest
Shackleton
Vinogradov

References

Gilman, Larry; Lerner, K. Lee. "Mid-Ocean-Ridges". Water Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
Müller, R. Dietmar; Roest, Walter R. (1992). "Fracture Zones in the North Atlantic from Combined Geosat and Seasat Data" (PDF). Journal of Geophysical Research. 97 (B3): 3337–50. Bibcode:1992JGR....97.3337M. doi:10.1029/91JB02605. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
Name from GEBCO gazetteer, position refined by means of etopo2 and sample data of GPlates
Udintsev, G.B. (1996). "Equatorial Segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge". Unesco. Archived from the original on 2012-09-07. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
Roest, W. R.; Collette, B. J. (1986). "The Fifteen Twenty Fracture Zone and the North American – South American plate boundary". Journal of the Geological Society. 143: 833–43. doi:10.1144/gsjgs.143.5.0833.
Tucholke, Brian E.; Schouten, Hans (1988-03-01). "Kane Fracture Zone". Marine Geophysical Research. 10: 1–39. Bibcode:1988MarGR..10....1T. doi:10.1007/BF02424659.
"Map with Jan Mayen, Greenland and Senja Fracture Zones". Ocean Drilling Project. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
Auzende, J.M.; Olivet, J.L.; Bonnin, J. (1970). "Marge du Grand Bank et la fracture de Terre-Neuve". Compt. Rend. (in French). 271: 1063–66.
Le Pichon, Xavier; Fox, Paul J. (1971-09-10). "Marginal Offsets, Fracture Zones, and the Early Opening of the North Atlantic". Journal of Geophysical Research. 76 (26): 6294–308. Bibcode:1971JGR....76.6294L. doi:10.1029/JB076i026p06294.
Patriat, P., Sauter, D., Munschy, M., & Parson, L. (1997). A survey of the Southwest Indian Ridge axis between Atlantis II Fracture Zone and the Indian Ocean Triple Junction: Regional setting and large scale segmentation. Marine Geophysical Researches, 19(6), 457–80.

Sources

The Global Seafloor Fabric and Magnetic Lineation Data Base Project

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] Gilman, Larry; Lerner, K. Lee. "Mid-Ocean-Ridges". Water Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2011-11-29.

[dietmarwalter-2] Müller, R. Dietmar; Roest, Walter R. (1992). "Fracture Zones in the North Atlantic from Combined Geosat and Seasat Data" (PDF). Journal of Geophysical Research. 97 (B3): 3337–50. Bibcode:1992JGR....97.3337M. doi:10.1029/91JB02605. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2011-11-30.

[gebco-3] Name from GEBCO gazetteer, position refined by means of etopo2 and sample data of GPlates

[4] Udintsev, G.B. (1996). "Equatorial Segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge". Unesco. Archived from the original on 2012-09-07. Retrieved 2011-12-05.

[roest-5] Roest, W. R.; Collette, B. J. (1986). "The Fifteen Twenty Fracture Zone and the North American – South American plate boundary". Journal of the Geological Society. 143: 833–43. doi:10.1144/gsjgs.143.5.0833.

[6] Tucholke, Brian E.; Schouten, Hans (1988-03-01). "Kane Fracture Zone". Marine Geophysical Research. 10: 1–39. Bibcode:1988MarGR..10....1T. doi:10.1007/BF02424659.

[odp-7] "Map with Jan Mayen, Greenland and Senja Fracture Zones". Ocean Drilling Project. Retrieved 2011-12-16.

[8] Auzende, J.M.; Olivet, J.L.; Bonnin, J. (1970). "Marge du Grand Bank et la fracture de Terre-Neuve". Compt. Rend. (in French). 271: 1063–66.

[LP-9] Le Pichon, Xavier; Fox, Paul J. (1971-09-10). "Marginal Offsets, Fracture Zones, and the Early Opening of the North Atlantic". Journal of Geophysical Research. 76 (26): 6294–308. Bibcode:1971JGR....76.6294L. doi:10.1029/JB076i026p06294.

[patriat-10] Patriat, P., Sauter, D., Munschy, M., & Parson, L. (1997). A survey of the Southwest Indian Ridge axis between Atlantis II Fracture Zone and the Indian Ocean Triple Junction: Regional setting and large scale segmentation. Marine Geophysical Researches, 19(6), 457–80.