W.H. Prescott M. Lisowski N. King J.C. Savage 1978 <p><span>The plate tectonics model of the Pacific moving northwest relative to North America implies that the regional strain in California should be simple shear across a vertical plane striking N45°W or equivalently equal parts of north-south contraction and east-west extension. Measurements of the strain accumulation at seven separate sites in southern California in the interval 1972 through 1978 indicate a remarkably consistent uniaxial north-south contraction of about 0.3 part per million per year; the expected east-west extension is absent. It is not clear whether the period from 1972 through 1978 is anomalous or whether the secular strain in southern California is indeed a uniaxial north-south contraction.</span></p> application/pdf 10.1126/science.202.4370.883 en American Association for the Advancement of Science Strain in southern California: Measured uniaxial north-south regional contraction article