Kinematics of the northern Walker Lane: An incipient transform fault along the Pacific–North American plate boundary

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Research Article| June 01, 2005 Kinematics of the northern Walker Lane: An incipient transform fault along the Pacific–North American plate boundary James E. Faulds; James E. Faulds 1Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, MS 178, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Christopher D. Henry; Christopher D. Henry 1Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, MS 178, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Nicholas H. Hinz Nicholas H. Hinz 1Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, MS 178, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Geology (2005) 33 (6): 505–508. https://doi.org/10.1130/G21274.1 Article history received: 07 Oct 2004 rev-recd: 22 Jan 2005 accepted: 05 Feb 2005 first online: 03 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation James E. Faulds, Christopher D. Henry, Nicholas H. Hinz; Kinematics of the northern Walker Lane: An incipient transform fault along the Pacific–North American plate boundary. Geology 2005;; 33 (6): 505–508. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G21274.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract In the western Great Basin of North America, a system of dextral faults accommodates 15%–25% of the Pacific–North American plate motion. The northern Walker Lane in northwest Nevada and northeast California occupies the northern terminus of this system. This young evolving part of the plate boundary offers insight into how strike-slip fault systems develop and may reflect the birth of a transform fault. A belt of overlapping, left-stepping dextral faults dominates the northern Walker Lane. Offset segments of a W-trending Oligocene paleovalley suggest ∼20–30 km of cumulative dextral slip beginning ca. 9–3 Ma. The inferred long-term slip rate of ∼2–10 mm/yr is compatible with global positioning system observations of the current strain field. We interpret the left-stepping faults as macroscopic Riedel shears developing above a nascent lithospheric-scale transform fault. The strike-slip faults end in arrays of ∼N-striking normal faults, suggesting that dextral shear diffuses into extension in the Great Basin. Coeval extension and dextral shear have induced slight counterclockwise fault-block rotations, which may ultimately rotate Riedel shears toward the main shear zone at depth, thus facilitating development of a throughgoing strike-slip fault. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.