Relief-forming factors of Atlantic ocean transform faults

Abstract

Transform faults are widespread within the Atlantic Ocean. Their relief is determined by a variety of factors related mainly to the peculiarities of the deep structure of the lithosphere and regional geodynamics. The degree of their influence changes when passing from one morphotectonic province of the Atlantic Ocean to another. The differences are manifested in the morphology of the main elements of the transform fault and the correlation of their morphometric parameters with the length of the active part, which was shown earlier by analogue modeling. The dependence between the depth of the transform valley and the axis offset of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge along the transform fault has been revealed. Variations in the values of morphometric parameters are interpreted as a consequence of different duration of fault development, as well as different degrees of influence of secondary factors within each of the provinces. Based on the analysis of the bathymetric data on the Atlantic transform faults, five main groups of relief-forming factors are identified, and the relative degree of importance of the factors is determined for each of them. It is assumed that the identified dependences are preserved for the transform faults in other oceans.

Keywords

• transform faults
• relief-forming factors
• morphometric analysis
• atlantic ocean