The relationships with other features is complex. At the BFZ's eastern end, near the Steens Mountain fault, the zone of surface faulting turns slightly to the south-southeast (possibly due to rotation of Nevada), then follows the Northern Nevada Rift to form the Oregon-Nevada lineament, with a total length of over . Lavas associated with the Nevada Rift have been dated to 16.3 Ma (millions of years ago), close to the inception of basin-and-range faulting, but there is a suspicion that the rifting developed on an older strike-slip fault, possibly connected with the East Pacific Rise.