The San Andreas Fault in California, the Alpine Fault in New Zealand, or the Main Frontal Thrust in the Himalayas are some of the most famous and largest fault zones that accommodate the relative displacement between two adjacent crustal blocks. Such faults, however, represent only the shallower expression of something much bigger: a crustal shear zone. In the first 10 kilometers or so of the crus ...[Read More]
Features from the Field: Shear Zones and Mylonites
Dextral, ductile shear zones crosscut foliated schist at Cap de Creus (Catalona, Spain). Photo © Jordi Carreras