Microplate Capture, Large-Scale Rotations and Initiation of the San Andreas Transform: Test of a New Tectonic Model

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9405261 Nicholson The tectonic evolution of the Pacific-North America plate boundary is tied to the development of several engimtic features of the California margin, including large-scale rotations of the Transverse Ranges, the location of several strike-slip faults and regions of extreme crustal extension. A recent tectonic model based largely on seismic reflection data has been developed that, in theory, accommodates these features. This project will test this model by investigating the relationship and interaction of off-shore oceanic plates with respect to known geology of western North America, taken from a variety of databases. Results should test the new model, and if successful, will result in a series of quantitative palinspastic maps of the evolving Pacific- North America plate boundary since 30ma.