Editing Fracture zone (section)

==Structure and formation==

Mid-ocean ridges are divergent plate boundaries. As the plates on either side of an offset mid-ocean ridge move, a transform fault forms at the offset between the two ridges.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Sandwell|first1=D.T.|last2=Smith|first2=W.H.F.|title=Exploring the Ocean Basins With Satellite Altimeter Data|url=http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/image/images/predict/images_predict.txt|publisher=NOAA, National Geophysical Data Center & World Data Center A for Marine Geology & Geophysics}}</ref>

Fracture zones and the transform faults that form them are separate but related features. Transform faults are plate boundaries, meaning that on either side of the fault is a different plate. In contrast, outside of the ridge-ridge transform fault, the crust on both sides belongs to the same plate, and there is no relative motion along the junction.<ref name="Columbia">{{cite web|title=Oceanic Transform Faults and Fracture Zones|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~vjd1/MOR_transforms.htm|publisher=Columbia University|access-date=3 March 2015}}</ref> The fracture zone is thus the junction between oceanic crustal regions of different ages.  Because younger crust is generally higher due to increased [[thermal buoyancy]], the fracture zone is characterized by an offset in elevation with an intervening [[canyon]] that may be topographically distinct for hundreds or thousands of kilometers on the sea floor.