Ballenas Fault
Encyclopedia
The Ballenas Fault is a transform fault
located on the seabed of the Gulf of California
, extending through the Canal de Ballenas which separates the Isla Ángel de la Guarda
from the Baja California Peninsula
. The fault is an integral part of the East Pacific Rise
, linking the Delfin Basin
in the north with a smaller spreading center to the south. The fault is considered the northernmost member of a grouping of four transform faults called the Guaymas Transform Fault System
.
The Ballenas Fault produced a magnitude 6.9 earthquake on August 3, 2009.
Transform fault
A transform fault or transform boundary, also known as conservative plate boundary since these faults neither create nor destroy lithosphere, is a type of fault whose relative motion is predominantly horizontal in either sinistral or dextral direction. Furthermore, transform faults end abruptly...
located on the seabed of the Gulf of California
Gulf of California
The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland...
, extending through the Canal de Ballenas which separates the Isla Ángel de la Guarda
Isla Ángel de la Guarda
Isla Ángel de la Guarda, also called Archangel Island, and called Xazl Iimt east of Bahía de los Ángeles, and separated from the Baja California Peninsula by the Canal de Ballenas . It is the second largest of the eleven Midriff Islands or Islas Grandes. It is part of the state of Baja California,...
from the Baja California Peninsula
Baja California Peninsula
The Baja California peninsula , is a peninsula in northwestern Mexico. Its land mass separates the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California. The Peninsula extends from Mexicali, Baja California in the north to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur in the south.The total area of the Baja California...
. The fault is an integral part of the East Pacific Rise
East Pacific Rise
The East Pacific Rise is a mid-oceanic ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary located along the floor of the Pacific Ocean. It separates the Pacific Plate to the west from the North American Plate, the Rivera Plate, the Cocos Plate, the Nazca Plate, and the Antarctic Plate...
, linking the Delfin Basin
Delfin Basin
The Delfin Basin is a pair of interconnected submarine depressions located on the seabed of the northern Gulf of California. The northernmost of these is called the Upper Delfin Basin while the southernmost is called the Lower Delfin Basin...
in the north with a smaller spreading center to the south. The fault is considered the northernmost member of a grouping of four transform faults called the Guaymas Transform Fault System
Guaymas Fault
The Guaymas Fault is a major right lateral-moving transform fault which runs along the seabed of the Gulf of California. It is an integral part of the Gulf of California Rift Zone, the northern extremity of the East Pacific Rise...
.
The Ballenas Fault produced a magnitude 6.9 earthquake on August 3, 2009.