Stop Four, Transform!

I'm almost home. I've arrived in the sunny city of Bakersfield, California to explore the final type of plate boundary. Transform boundaries are caused by two plates that are not colliding, but just sliding past each other. Here, the North American and Pacific plates are touching, causing what is called the San Andreas Fault. For a transform boundary to occur, the plates need to be moving in opposite directions. Here, the Pacific Plate, which includes Southern California, is headed Northwest. The rest of the continental USA is on the North American Plate, which is going Southeast. Earthquakes are extremely common along transform boundaries. In 1952, there was a magnitude 5.8 earthquake, and there was also a magnitude 5.4 earthquake late in 2012. However, transform boundaries do not cause volcanoes, so this part of California is free from volcanic activity. Below is a diagram of transform boundaries, although they are fairly easy to understand.

http://www.gweaver.net/techhigh/projects/period1_2/Yellowstone/Images/transform.jpeg

In case you are thinking of also visiting, here's my hotel room with the view in the background. It's very nice.

http://www.hotelbakersfield.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/hotel-bakersfield-ca.jpg