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Virtual Vista: Pt. Reyes, California, USA

At Point Reyes, California, the San Andreas Fault exits the North American Continent and extends seaward where it eventually joins the Mendocino Fracture Zone and the Gorda Ridge (a segment of a mid-ocean spreading center or divergent plate boundary).

The image on this page shows very clearly the trace of the San Andreas Fault zone as it passes through the Pt. Reyes area and heads out to sea - you are looking toward the northwest down the axis of a valley defined by the San Andreas Fault.

<a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg::::/sites/dl/free/0077373731/30425/VirtualVista1601.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (146.0K)</a>

Pt. Reyes itself (on the left side of this image) is part of the Pacific Plate, and is being translated southeastward along the transform plate boundary marked by the San Andreas Fault Zone. The right side of the image is part of the North American Plate and is being translated northwestward relative to Pt. Reyes.

To learn more about the San Andreas Fault in California, read the online publication "The San Andreas Fault" by the United States Geological Survey.

To take a flight over a virtual landscape of Pt. Reyes and the San Andreas Fault, click on the link below

Point Reyes Fly By (2848.0K)

Points to Ponder:

1. Print a copy of this page and label the images to show the San Andreas fault, the Pacific Plate, and the North American Plate.

2. Draw arrows on your image to indicate the directions of relative displacement on either side of the San Andreas fault. What type of fault movement is indicated?

Having trouble loading or viewing the video clip? You will need the DivX video codec for your media player to watch the video. The DivX codec is available free from www.divx.com. Click on the link or type the URL into your browser to go to the DivX download site. Once at the DivX site, follow the "DOWNLOAD" links until you locate the download "Standard DivX Codec (FREE)" hyperlink. Click on the link and download the small DivX codec file. The codec file may take a few minutes to load. Please be patient. Once the file is downloaded to your local computer, double click on the file to automatically install the Divx codec.

You may also discover that the Virtual Vistas work best with the Windows Media Player, available as a free download from www.microsoft.com. Click on the link or type the URL into your browser to go to the Microsoft web site. Once at the web site, type "windows media player" into the Search box, then click on the appropriate link to download the latest version of Windows Media Player.






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