The Fiji Transform Fault (FTF) is a sinistral transform fault trending nearly E-W from the central North Fiji Basin triple junction at 17°S, 174°E to the northern Lau Basin and is characterized by very high bathymetric relief and dispersed seismicity. SeaMARC II and GLORIA sidescan imagery reveal the structural fabric along the fault trace. From the triple junction to 176°E, the fault location is uncertain but lies within an area having northeast and southeast trending structures. It is believed that a right step in the fault trace has produced a component of compression. From 176°E to 179°E, the fault is clearly delineated next to the Fiji Platform and within two left step offsets are short spreading segments. It is hypothesized that periodic propagation of these short segments into the Fiji Platform has accompanied changes in the location of the fault and in so doing has broken off parts of the Fiji Platform.
