Gulf of California rift zone

E37848

The Gulf of California rift zone is an active tectonic region where continental crust is being stretched and thinned, linking the San Andreas Fault system to seafloor spreading centers in the eastern Pacific.


Statements (45)
Predicate Object
instanceOf continental rift
rift zone
tectonic plate boundary
transform–rift plate boundary
age Neogene
associatedWith Baja California microplate motion
earthquake activity
volcanic activity
boundedBy North American Plate
Pacific Plate
characterizedBy active tectonism
continental crustal extension
crustal thinning
normal faulting
pull-apart basins
seafloor spreading segments
strike-slip faulting
transform faults
connectsTo East Pacific Rise
Pacific Ocean spreading centers
San Andreas Fault system
contains spreading centers
submarine volcanic centers
transform fault segments
developedFrom former subduction margin of the Farallon-derived plates
evolutionTrend transition from continental rifting to oceanic spreading
extendsFrom southern end of the San Andreas Fault system
extendsTo mouth region of the Gulf of California in the Pacific Ocean
forms marine depocenters in the Gulf of California
series of en echelon basins
geologicalProcess basin formation
lithospheric thinning
magmatism
linkedTo northwestward motion of Baja California
plate boundary reorganization in western North America
locatedIn Baja California region
Gulf of California
northwestern Mexico
partOf Pacific–North America plate boundary
researchField marine geology
plate tectonics
seismotectonics
separates Baja California Peninsula from mainland Mexico
tectonicSetting oblique rift
transtensional plate boundary

Referenced by (5)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
North American Plate
boundaryFeature
Gulf of California ("Gulf of California Rift Zone")
hasGeologicalFeature
North American plate boundary system
hasPart
Salton Trough
partOf
Salton Trough ("Gulf of California spreading center")
relatedTo

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