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How do transform faults offset sections of oceanic ridges?

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World map highlighting major features of the ocean basins, including trenches, ridges, basins, and plateaus labeled throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic Oceans. Continents are shown with shaded terrain, and prominent undersea features such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Mariana Trench, and Kerguelen Plateau are marked across the map. — ocean basin Major features of the ocean basins.

Transform faults offset sections of oceanic ridges by acting as plate boundaries where two tectonic plates slide horizontally past one another. These faults are located in the active segments of submarine fracture zones that connect offset spreading centres.123

As seafloor spreading occurs, new crust is created at the ridge axes, and the plates move in opposite directions. The transform fault facilitates this movement between the offset ridge segments. Notably, the direction of plate motion along these faults is opposite to the apparent offset of the ridge crests. Because the plates on either side of the fault are moving in opposite directions, these segments are seismically active and frequently experience earthquakes. Beyond the offset ridge crests, the fracture zones become inactive scars on the ocean floor, as the seafloor on both sides of the fracture belongs to the same rigid plate and moves in unison.314