INDIAN GEOGRAPHY

Detailed explanation-1: -The San Andreas Fault marks the junction between the North American and Pacific Plates. The fault is 1300 km long, extends to at least 25 km in depth, and has a north west-south east trend. It is classified as a right lateral (dextral) strike-slip fault.

Detailed explanation-2: -The San Andreas Fault and Queen Charlotte Fault are transform plate boundaries developing where the Pacific Plate moves northward past the North American Plate. The San Andreas Fault is just one of several faults that accommodate the transform motion between the Pacific and North American plates.

Detailed explanation-3: -The San Andreas Fault System, which crosses California from the Salton Sea in the south to Cape Mendocino in the north, is the boundary between the Pacific Plate (that includes the Pacific Ocean) and North American Plate (that includes North America).

Detailed explanation-4: -The Pacific Plate is moving to the northwest at a speed of between 7 and 11 centimeters (cm) or  3-4 inches a year. The North American plate is moving to the west-southwest at about 2.3 cm ( 1 inch) per year driven by the spreading center that created the Atlantic Ocean, the Mid Atlantic Ridge.

Detailed explanation-5: -Near Alaska, the North American Plate meets the Pacific Plate in a convergent boundary, meaning the plates are coming together. Here, the Pacific Plate sinks under the North American Plate in a process called subduction.