9807673 Dixon Strain and deformation partitioning at oblique convergent plate margins was proposed twenty-five years ago, and subsequently has been identified in the arcs of many subduction zones. Whether or not deformation is partitioned in divergent plate margins is still an open question, let alone how the deformation might be partitioned. The project will be one of the first to critically explore this question. It focuses on Baja California Sur, in Mexico, as one of the best examples of an oblique divergent plate boundary, with one of the largest obliquities. If this study is successful, it will determine the rates of modern displacement of faults in the region, determine the average rates of displacement for the same structures over the last few million years, and ultimately establish what role the strain partitioning has in these strike-slip displacements.
