Types of Plate Boundaries in California

The Great California ShakeOut

Divergent Boundaries:Two plates pull apart

Convergent Boundaries:Two plates push together

Transform Boundaries:Two plates slide horizontally against one another

Plate boundary zones:Sometimes boundaries are not well defined, especially if they involve more than two plates.

Types of Plate Boundaries

The Great California ShakeOut

Transform boundary between the Pacific and North American plates along the San Andreas Fault

Convergent boundary at the Cascadia Subduction Zone

Convergent zone at the bend in the San Andreas Fault

Divergent boundary at the Brawley Seismic Zone

Plate Boundaries in California

The Great California ShakeOut

References

Kious, W. J., and Robert I. Tilling. "Understanding Plate Motions." This Dynamic Earth, USGS. United States Geological Survey, Feb. 1996. Web. 18 June 2013. <http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/understanding.html>.

"The Salton Seismic Imaging Project." Earthquake Hazards Program. United States Geological Survey, 11 Dec. 2012. Web. 18 June 2013. <http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/structure/salton/>.

"Plate Boundaries." Department of Earth Sciences. Freie Universität Berlin, 31 Mar. 2008. Web. 18 June 2013. <http://www.geo.fu-berlin.de/fb/e-learning/geolearning/en/mountain_building/plate_tectonics/index.html>.

The Great California ShakeOut