ABSTRACT

Transcurrent faults occur in the Canadian Shield as well as in the Interior Plains and the Cordillera. They play a major role in the fabric of the Western Canadian region. Their preferential azimuths fit in a world-wide regmatic shear pattern. A Precambrian initiation of this fault system has been postulated.

Recognition of transcurrent faults has lagged far behind that of dip-slip faults due to the paucity of reliable markers. Markers particularly suited to detect such movement in the Plains of Western Canada can be used to delineate the Drumheller fault and other transcurrent faults.

The absence of a hanging wall in vertical transcurrent faulting facilities gaping. Accordingly, ascending magmas and juvenile waters, migrating hydrocarbons and connate waters, as well as circulating meteoric waters should show a preference for these faults.

The association of earthquakes with transcurrent faults is strongly suggested. Linear disintegration ridges represent cracks in the continental ice-sheet that were enlarged by meltwater and filled with englacial and subglacial material. The cracks suggest fault activity during the late Pleistocene. Fault control is also proposed for some linear meltwater channels and the present rectangular drainage system in Western Canada.