Which mechanism causes crustal thinning directly above a strike-slip fault zone?

💡 Explanation

When a strike-slip fault has a bend or stepover, extensional stresses are induced because the plates are pulled apart, causing crustal thinning. Therefore extensional stress from the fault plane bend results, rather than isostatic rebound, thermal uplift or basin subsidence which involve different geological processes altogether.

• Which effect accelerates topsoil creep resulting from permafrost thaw in Arctic regions?
• Which outcome is most likely after an oxbow lake forms due to river meandering?
• Which ecological pattern consistently arises adjacent arid coastal regions as persistent offshore winds drive coastal upwelling?
• Which effect results when upper-level divergence aloft reinforces surface low pressure within a Hadley cell?
• Which mechanism maintains relatively stable ocean surface temperatures globally due to latitudinal variations?
• Which outcome typically occurs on the leeward side of a volcanic island in steady trade wind conditions?