8baf79bb-bd55-44d0-9da8-416207446777 urn:uuid eng UTF-8 nonGeographicDataset nonGeographicDataset 2025-10-16T11:40:12 creation ISO 19115 2016 The Western Australia shear zone 8baf79bb-bd55-44d0-9da8-416207446777 Tectonic geomorphology along the continental margin of Western Australia indicates the presence of an approximately 2000 km long zone of dextral-oblique neotectonic faults and folds referred to as the Western Australian shear zone (WASZ). The WASZ reoccupies older rift related structures that initially formed during periods of continental-scale fragmentation in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic Eras. Reactivation in the WASZ is coincident with late Neogene reorganization of Australia’s plate boundaries and realignment of the intraplate stress field. Neotectonic deformation in the southern WASZ is dominated by transpressional inversion within the extended crustal domain between Australian oceanic crust to the west and non-extended Australian continental crust to the east. The WASZ appears to accommodate differential motion expressed as dextral transpression between oceanic and non-extended continental tectonic blocks—or micro-plates. {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[112.0, -44.0], [154.0, -44.0], [154.0, -9.0], [112.0, -9.0], [112.0, -44.0]]]} 112.0 154.0 -44.0 -9.0 EARTH SCIENCES Published_External neotectonic features tectonic geomorphology Link to article documentDigital Link to article PDF