This week I took my field trip to the southern sites in southern Santa Clara Valley region to learn more about the San Andreas Fault. The San Andreas Fault is the sliding boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. It parts California in two, from Cape Mendocino to the Mexican border. This fault is a transform fault, so when two of them pass one another where they touch along a common straight edge bits of pieces crumble across the boundary onto the other side. This fault is the world's most famous fault as it's more accessible than any other fault in the world. There are many roads that will snake along the fault. Since the formation of the San Andreas Fault, it has moved quite a bit over the last 30 million years, it has shifted over 150 miles. This fault runs northwest 800 miles before ending under the Pacific Ocean. One question I would have is what parts of the fault is under the Pacific Ocean? This fault has been divided into several segments. You have the Northern Segment which extends from Shelter Cove to the South Francisco Bay area. The Creeping Segment is from San Juan Bautista near Monterey to the short Parkfield segment which is at the center of the San Andreas Fault. The Central Segment bends in the San Emigdio Mountains near Bakersfield, and runs along the San Gabriel Mountains.
The rocks shown below are at Pinnacles National Park and have been hitching a ride along the San Andreas Fault for eons. Because of unique rock formations found in only two places, they are believed to be part of the Neenach Volcano that occurred 23 million years ago near present-day Lancaster, California. The San Andreas Fault ripped the old volcano in half and they have traveled some 195 miles to reach their present location. My second question about the fault would be how big do they believe the overdue earthquake will be? My third question would be how far will this fault crack and how far (miles) will the earthquake be felt?
San Andreas Fault Pictures. (n.d.). Retrieved August 12, 2018, from https://www.tripsavvy.com/san-andreas-fault-pictures-4116382
The San Andreas Fault. (n.d.). Retrieved August 12, 2018, from https://geology.com/articles/san-andreas-fault.shtml
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