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Is the San Andreas Fault a left lateral strike-slip fault?
It is classified as a right lateral (dextral) strike-slip fault. Although both plates are moving in a north westerly direction, the Pacific Plate is moving faster than the North American Plate, so the relative movement of the North American Plate is to the south east.
Is the San Andreas Fault a right strike-slip fault?
strike-slip fault – a fault on which the two blocks slide past one another. The San Andreas Fault is an example of a right lateral fault.
Is San Andreas strike-slip?
what type of fault is the San Andreas? A San Andreas earthquake would be classified as occurring on a strike-slip fault. Strike-slip faults are found along boundaries of tectonic plates sliding past each other.
What is left lateral strike-slip?
If you were to stand on the fault and look along its length, this is a type of strike-slip fault where the left block moves toward you and the right block moves away.
What is lateral fault?
strike-slip fault, also called transcurrent fault, wrench fault, or lateral fault, in geology, a fracture in the rocks of Earth’s crust in which the rock masses slip past one another parallel to the strike, the intersection of a rock surface with the surface or another horizontal plane.
What is right lateral strike-slip?
If you were to stand on the fault and look along its length, this is a type of strike-slip fault where the right block moves toward you and the left block moves away. See also left-lateral.
How do you identify a right lateral strike-slip fault?
Strike-slip faults are vertical (or nearly vertical) fractures where the blocks have mostly moved horizontally. If the block opposite an observer looking across the fault moves to the right, the slip style is termed right lateral; if the block moves to the left, the motion is termed left lateral.
Is lateral left to right?
Medial and lateral: Medial refers to being toward the midline of the body or the median plane, which splits the body, head-to-toe, into two halves, the left and right. Lateral is the side of the body or part of the body that is away from the middle.
Is the San Andreas Fault left or right lateral?
The entire San Andreas Fault has right-lateral motion with the Pacific Plate moving northwest along the eastern margin of the North American Plate.
Which is an example of a right lateral strike slip fault?
Wallace Creek segment of the San Andreas Fault is example of a right-lateral strike-slip fault. The entire San Andreas Fault has right-lateral motion with the Pacific Plate moving northwest along the eastern margin of the North American Plate. Stress can have right-lateral, or left-lateral motion.
How does the San Andreas Fault cause earthquakes?
The Pacific Plate (on the west) moves northwestward relative to the North American Plate (on the east), causing earthquakes along the fault. The San Andreas is the “master” fault of an intricate fault network that cuts through rocks of the California coastal region.
How does stress affect a strike slip fault?
Animation shows the buildup of stress along the margin of two stuck plates that are trying to slide past one another. Stress and strain increase along the contact until the friction is overcome and rock breaks. Left-lateral fault strike slip fault with little or no friction along fault contact.