Initiation of transform faults at rifted continental margins

Data from the Woodlark Basin, Gulf of Aden and NW Australia show that spreading segments nucleate en echelon in overlapping rift basins and that transform faults develop as or after spreading nucleates; typically they are not inherited from transverse rift structures. Initial spreading offsets, where present, are often non-transform. After continental break-up, spreading center segmentation is modified by ridge jumps and/or propagation.