阿尔金断裂中段晚新生代走滑过程的沉积响应

通过阿尔金断裂中段晚新生代盆地的沉积特征和构造变形过程的野外观测和室内分析, 建立了阿尔金断裂中段晚新生代的沉积序列; 并根据盆地断裂-沉积-古地貌的恢复, 推断晚新生代阿尔金断裂至少经历了3期走滑作用过程. 通过晚第三纪沉积体错移和盆地形成与演化过程的复原分析, 提出了阿尔金断裂晚新生代以来80~100 km左旋走滑位错的地质新证据.     

祁连山构造带的新构造变形机制

论述了祁连山构造带新生代以来的变形过程及形成机制。研究表明： 祁连山构造带的变形过程是在欧亚大陆与印度大陆碰撞汇聚作用下发生和发展的, 其变形过程与整个青藏高原的隆升过程同步进行。其中阿尔金断裂在其东段的走滑贯通对祁连山－ 河西走廊地区的构造运动影响很大。上新世末或第四纪初阿尔金断裂东段的走滑导致了祁连山地区应力场的旋转, 进而增大了沿 Ｎ Ｗ Ｗ 向主断裂的水平走滑分量。它是引起主断裂发生走滑的重要原因之一。     

阿尔金断裂带东段距今20ka以来的滑动速率

阿尔金断裂带作为青藏高原北部边界 ,其走滑量和走滑速率一直为地学界所关注 ,对这样一条大陆内部巨型走滑断裂带的滑动速率进行研究 ,对于了解阿尔金断裂带左旋走滑和青藏高原北部隆升之间的耦合关系 ,具有重要意义。在阿尔金断裂带东段的疏勒河口以西 ,阿尔金断裂错断了几条规模相近的河流阶地和洪积扇 ,形成典型的走滑断层断错地貌。通过对这些典型断错地貌点的地貌观测和年代学研究 ,得到阿尔金断裂带东段石堡城以东疏勒河以西自 2 0kaBP以来的滑动速率约为 4～ 5mm/a。自 50kaBP以来 ,阿尔金断裂带东段断层平均滑动速率具有较高的时间、空间一致性 ,约为 4～ 6mm/a ,表明利用河流阶地和洪积扇位错作为断层走滑位移标志计算断层滑动速率 ,具有较高的可信度     

祁连山构造带的新构造形机制

论述了祁连山构造带新生代以来的变形过程及形成机制。研究表明：祁连山构造带的变形过程是在欧亚大陆与印度大陆碰撞汇聚作用下发生和发展的,其过程与整个青藏高原的隆升过程同步进行。其中阿尔金断裂在其东段的走滑贯通对祁连山－河西走廊地区的构造运动影响很大。上新世末或第四纪初阿尔金断裂东段的走滑导致了祁连山地区的应力场的旋转,进而增大了沿ＮＷＷ向主断裂的水平走滑分量。它是引起主断裂发生走滑的重要原因之一。     

阿拉善地块南缘的左旋走滑断裂与阿尔金断裂带的东延

阿拉善地块南缘发育了由5条走向近EW、向西收敛、向东撒开的断裂组成的断裂束,每条断裂长度一般>100km,控制第四纪盆地呈EW向长条状展布,卫片上线性影像清晰,晚第四纪以来表现出左旋走滑活动的特点。断裂束西段的金塔南山断裂与阿尔金断裂带东段的宽滩山段趋于交会,并与文殊山构造隆起之间构成构造转换关系。分析认为金塔南山断裂以及整个阿拉善南缘断裂束是阿尔金断裂左旋运动的东延部分,断裂束在平面上“帚状”的、向东撒开的构造样式有利于走滑运动量的分解、消减和吸收,符合走滑断裂末端的构造特点。阿拉善南缘断裂束的左旋走滑活动有可能是阿尔金断裂带进一步向东扩展的结果,其时代可能发生于早更新世末—中更新世初     

阿尔金断裂南侧弧形地貌单元成因及其构造意义

巨型左旋走滑的阿尔金断裂是青藏高原的北部边界,在印度-欧亚板块碰撞过程中起重要的调节作用,控制着青藏高原东北部的构造演化,认识其活动演化对理解青藏高原的构造变形过程和机制具有重要意义。阿尔金断裂南侧存在一系列弧形地貌单元,知晓这些弧形带是原始弧形弯曲还是后期由于阿尔金断裂左旋走滑拖曳而形成的,对认识阿尔金断裂的构造演化具有重要意义。文中在前期阿尔金断裂南侧柴西英雄岭和柴北缘2条弧形带不同部位已开展的精细古地磁旋转变形研究的基础上,综合研究区和阿尔金断裂附近已有的古地磁旋转变形研究结果和弧形带几何形态学等其它地质证据,分析发现这2条弧形带的几何学特征是由其不同部位发生旋转变形所导致的,且旋转变形与该时段阿尔金断裂的快速左旋走滑活动密切相关。通过上述工作,更加全面地了解了阿尔金断裂新生代2阶段的走滑特征,进一步限定了阿尔金断裂早渐新世以来左旋滑移量,以柴西段为参照系滑移量至少约350～430km,以柴北缘段为参照系至少约380～460km,平均滑移速率至少约10. 6～13. 9mm/a。     

GPS观测及断裂晚第四纪滑动速率所反映的青藏高原北部变形

断裂晚第四纪滑动速率及现今GPS观测揭示了青藏高原向北扩展与高原边缘隆升的运动特征.主要断裂晚第四纪滑动速率及跨断裂GPS应变速率的结果表明,青藏高原北部边缘的断裂以低滑动速率（＜10 mm/a）为主,特别是两条边界断裂：阿尔金断裂和海原—祁连山断裂.两条主要边界断裂上的滑动速率分布显示了断裂间滑动速率转换及调整特征.阿尔金断裂自95°E以西的8～12 mm/a稳定滑动速率,向东逐渐降低到最东端的约1～2 mm/a,而海原断裂自哈拉湖一带开始发育后滑动速率为1～2 mm/a,到祁连一带（101°E以东）增大到相对稳定的4～5 mm/a,直到过海原后转向六盘山一带,滑动速率降低到1～3 mm/a,甚至更低.滑动速率的变化及分布特征显示,阿尔金断裂滑动主要是通过祁连山内部隆起及两侧新生代盆地变形引起的缩短来吸收的,海原—祁连山断裂的低滑动速率及沿断裂运动学特征表明断裂尾端的陇西盆地变形及六盘山的隆起是断裂左旋走滑速率的主要吸收方式.这一变形特征表明,青藏高原北部边缘的变形模式是一种分布式的连续变形,变形发生自高原内部,边界断裂的走滑被高原内部变形所吸收.     

阿尔金南缘断裂东段晚第四纪活动特征

阿尔金断裂的几何学和运动学特征对研究青藏高原构造演化和陆内地震机理非常重要。为定量科学研究较为薄弱的阿尔金南缘断裂东段的运动学参数,我们采用航卫片的解译、野外调查、地形测绘和年代学样品测试等多种方法对该段进行了初步研究。结果显示该段断裂主要以左旋走滑运动为主,且沿线存在较多的小位移,其位移空间分布的3个明显峰值分别为4.5m、8m和13m。根据河流阶地的左旋位移和相应的地貌面沉积年龄,得到晚第四纪以来阿尔金断裂东段的走滑速率约为2.7±0.9mm/a。基于所获得的定量参数,认为该段断裂向东以应变分解的形式将其应变量传递到相邻的逆冲断裂上。     

青藏高原东北缘主要断裂滑动速率及其动力学意义

本文利用青藏高原东北缘地区1991—2015年的GPS速度场资料, 基于弹性球面块体模型获得了区域活动断裂的滑动速率, 并讨论了断裂滑动速率分配的动力学意义。 反演结果表明, 青藏高原东北缘地区主要块体以北东向并兼顺时针旋转运动为主; 区域断裂平均闭锁深度为17 km; 另外, 各主要断裂滑动速率也不尽相同。 其中, 阿尔金断裂、 东昆仑断裂左旋走滑速率为10～12 mm/a, 祁连—海原断裂左旋走滑速率为3～5 mm/a, 鄂拉山断裂、 拉脊山断裂右旋走滑速率为1～3 mm/a。 阿尔金断裂、 祁连—海原断裂、 东昆仑断裂的走滑速率被其端部的山脉隆起和逆冲断裂所吸收和转换, 鄂拉山断裂和拉脊山断裂则起到了调节块体间运动平衡的作用。     

阿尔金走滑断裂带昌马段的电性结构样式及构造意义

阿尔金断裂带东段走滑速率沿断裂走向方向存在明显的流失现象,有关阿尔金断裂带的影响范围及走滑速率变化的机制需要有更多的深部结构证据来提供支撑.本文以阿尔金断裂带昌马段为窗口,获取了4条横穿阿尔金断裂带及相邻地区的大地电磁测深剖面.二维电性剖面显示在阿尔金断裂带北侧中上地壳以连续的高阻体为主,而南侧祁连山内部的深部电性结构在横向上有较为复杂的变化.这一点与区域构造背景相对应,即北侧的塔里木盆地东缘依然具有较好的整体性,南侧的祁连山是青藏高原北缘生长的最前端,变形强烈.在断裂带的结构特征上,阿尔金断裂带沿走向方向的切割深度在昌马盆地西侧发生了显著的降低,与阿尔金断裂带相对应的电性边界在这里向南偏移了约15 km,对应F18断裂,并与昌马盆地相接.祁连山北部的断裂带,包括昌马断裂、旱峡—大黄沟断裂总体呈现出低角度南倾的样式,切过高阻异常体的顶部.虽然昌马盆地可以起到连接断裂带的阶区的作用,将部分阿尔金断裂的走滑分量转移到盆地南侧的昌马断裂上,但是昌马断裂的走滑速率从西向东是增加的,东侧的走滑速率甚至大于阿尔金断裂沿走向方向的流失分量.我们认为在青藏高原北部主要断裂带的活动还是受印度—欧亚板块碰撞引起的远程挤压效应的影响,包括阿尔金断裂以及祁连山内部系列断层都处于斜向挤压应力环境.在这种基本构造模式下,阿尔金断裂、断裂F18、昌马盆地、昌马断裂构成了一个局部的走滑速率分解-转换-吸收体系,对局部应力状态产生影响.     

畹町断裂晚第四纪活动与水系构造变形

畹町断裂位于滇西中缅交界地带,蚌冬以西走向近EW,以东走向NE,倾向N和NW,全长170km。最新考察发现,沿断裂新活动的断层地貌明显,表现为清晰的断层三角面、平直的断层槽地、断层陡崖、线性山脊、多级跌水等。断裂对第四纪盆地有着明显的控制作用,畹町、曼海等盆地呈串珠状沿断裂展布。龙镇大桥等地第四纪断层及高家寨洪积扇位错等揭示出畹町断裂切错了晚更新世堆积层,被错堆积层热释光年龄为(17.60±1.49)ka～(38.24±3.25)kaBP,表明断裂在晚第四纪有过明显活动。蚌冬一带怒江沿断裂展布,主河道被左旋位错了约9.5km并形成"发卡"型拐弯;公养河等6条河流及其支流均沿断裂发育,局部或整体河段受断裂控制明显,说明这些河段是在断裂新活动后沿断裂破碎带追踪侵蚀形成的。沿断裂多处可见水系同步左旋位错现象,如平子亭—公养河间有11条小溪同步左旋位错,中山—万马河一线有10余条水系表现出同步左旋位错。位错量可分为40～50m、90～100m、200～250m、300～400m和600～1100m5个量级;梳状水系发育。水系左旋位错、阶地及洪积扇等位错现象表明,断裂在晚第四纪以水平左旋走滑为主,滑动速率为1.7～2.2mm/a.。沿断裂曾发生多次中强地震,被认为是1976年龙陵7.3、7.4级地震的余震,但它们不是沿发震断层———龙陵-瑞丽断裂呈带状分布,而是集中于龙陵-瑞丽断裂与畹町断裂间南北长55km、东西宽32km的广阔区域。因此,推断这些余震的发生是龙陵-瑞丽断裂与畹町断裂相继活动所致。     

TERRACE DEFORMATION AND SLIP RATES OF THE DONGBIELIEKE FAULT IN WESTERN JUNGGAR BASIN SINCE THE LATE QUATERNARY

Strike-slip fault plays an important role in the process of tectonic deformation since Cenozoic in Asia. The role of strike-slip fault in the process of mountain building and continental deformation has always been an important issue of universal concern to the earth science community. Junggar Basin is located in the hinterland of Central Asia, bordering on the north the Altay region and the Baikal rift system, which are prone to devastating earthquakes, the Tianshan orogenic belt and the Tibet Plateau on the south, and the rigid blocks, such as Erdos, the South China, the North China Plain and Amur, on the east. Affected by the effect of the Indian-Eurasian collision on the south of the basin and at the same time, driven by the southward push of the Mongolian-Siberian plate, the active structures in the periphery of the basin show a relatively strong activity. The main deformation patterns are represented by the large-scale NNW-trending right-lateral strike-slip faults dominated by right-lateral shearing, the NNE-trending left-lateral strike-slip faults dominated by left-lateral shearing, and the thrust-nappe structure systems distributed in piedmont of Tianshan in the south of the basin. There are three near-parallel-distributed left-lateral strike-slip faults in the west edge of the basin, from the east to the west, they are:the Daerbute Fault, the Toli Fault and the Dongbielieke Fault. This paper focuses on the Dongbielieke Fault in the western Junggar region. The Dongbielieke Fault is a Holocene active fault, located at the key position of the western Junggar orogenic belt. The total length of the fault is 120km, striking NE. Since the late Quaternary, the continuous activity of the Dongbielieke Fault has caused obvious left-lateral displacement at all geomorphologic units along the fault, and a linear continuous straight steep scarp was formed on the eastern side of the Tacheng Basin. According to the strike and the movement of fault, the fault can be divided into three segments, namely, the north, middle and south segment. In order to obtain a more accurate magnitude of the left-lateral strike-slip displacement and the accumulative left-lateral strike-slip displacement of different geomorphic surfaces, we chose the Ahebiedou River in the southern segment and used the UAV to take three-dimensional photographs to obtain the digital elevation model(the accuracy is 10cm). And on this basis, the amount of left-lateral strike-slip displacement of various geological masses and geomorphic surfaces(lines)since their formation is obtained. The maximum left-lateral displacement of the terrace T₅ is(30.7±2.1)m and the minimum left-lateral displacement is(20.1±1.3)m; the left-lateral displacement of the terrace T₄ is(12±0.9)m, and the left-lateral displacement of the terrace T₂ is(8.7±0.6)m. OSL dating samples from the surface of different level terraces(T₅, T₄, T₂ and T₁)are collected, processed and measured, and the ages of the terraces of various levels are obtained. By measuring the amount of left-lateral displacements since the Late Quaternary of the Dongbielieke Fault and combining the dating results of the various geomorphic surfaces, the displacements and slip rates of the fault on each level of the terraces since the formation of the T₅ terrace are calculated. Using the maximum displacement of(30.7±2.1)m of the T₅ terrace and the age of the geomorphic surface on the west bank of the river, we obtained the slip rate of(0.7±0.11)mm/a; similarly, using the minimum displacement of(20.1±1.3)m and the age of the geomorphic surface of the east bank, we obtained the slip rate of(0.46±0.07)mm/a. T₅ terrace is developed on both banks of the river and on both walls of the fault. After the terraces are offset by faulting, the terraces on foot wall in the left bank of the river are far away from the river, and the erosion basically stops. After that, the river mainly cuts the terraces on the east bank. Therefore, the west bank retains a more accurate displacement of the geomorphic surface(Gold et al., 2009), so the left-lateral slip rate of the T₅ terrace is taken as(0.7±0.11)mm/a. The left-lateral slip rate calculated for T₄ and T₂ terraces is similar, with an average value of(0.91±0.18)mm/a. In the evolution process of river terraces, the lateral erosion of high-level terrace is much larger than that of low-level terrace, so the slip rate of T₄ and T₂ terraces is closer to the true value. The left-lateral slip rate of the Dongbielieke Fault since the late Quaternary is(0.91±0.18)m/a. Compared with the GPS slip rate in the western Junggar area, it is considered that the NE-trending strike-slip motion in this area is dominated by the Dongbielieke Fault, which absorbs a large amount of residual deformation while maintaining a relatively high left-lateral slip rate.     

THE LATE QUATERNARY ACTIVITY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE STRIKE-SLIP FAULTS IN THE TIANSHAN OROGENIC BELT: A CASE STUDY OF THE KAIDUHE FAULT

As the most active intracontinental orogenic belt in the world, the Tianshan orogenic belt has complex and diverse internal structural deformation patterns, and among them, the particularly striking is the linear straight U-type valley landscapes which cut inside the mountains by multiple NW-SE and ENE-WSW strike-slip faults. Many of the modern strong earthquakes in Tianshan orogenic belt are closely related to these strike-slip faults. Therefore, it is important to elaborate the activity characteristics of these faults to understand the deformation process inside the Tianshan Mountains belt. This paper focuses on one of the NW-SE right-lateral strike-slip fault (the Kaiduhe Fault), which lies inside the southeastern Tianshan. Typical offset landforms and scarp lineaments on the western segment of the Kaiduhe Fault can be used to study the activity characteristics and strike-slip rate. In particular, the fault cuts through the late Quaternary alluvial fans and a series of river gullies were right-laterally faulted, producing dextral offsets ranging from 3 to 248m. A digital elevation model (DEM)with resolution of 0.25m was established by using multi-angle photogrammetry technique to stripe about 12km linear tectonic landforms along the Kaiduhe Fault. Geological and geomorphic mapping in DEM with 22 high-resolution dextral offset measurements reveals that the dextral offsets can be divide into four groups of 3.5m, 7.0m, 11.8m and 14.5m. It is presumed from the approximately uniformly-spaced offsets that the coseismic offset was 3~4m. In addition, the exposure age of an older alluvial fan surface was about 235.7ka by in situ ¹⁰Be terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide method. Combining the exposure ages and the maximum dextral offset of 248m, we found that the strike-slip rate of the Kaiduhe Fault is about 1mm/a. It is found by this study that the Kaiduhe Fault plays an important role in regulating SN compression deformation within Tianshan Mountains, and it should also be the main stress-strain accumulation area which has the risk of occurrence of strong earthquake.     

龙陵-瑞丽断裂(南支)北段晚第四纪活动性特征

遥感影像解译和野外地质地貌调查表明,龙陵-瑞丽断裂(南支)北段是以左旋走滑为主兼张性正断的区域性活动断裂。根据一些断错地貌点的大比例尺填图、实地测量及其年代学分析,确定了该断裂为全新世活动断裂,断裂晚更新世以来的平均水平滑动速率为2.2mm/a,平均垂直滑动速率为0.6mm/a;全新世以来的平均水平滑动速率为1.8～3.0mm/a,平均垂直滑动速率为0.5mm/a。断裂晚更新世以来的滑动速率在不同的时间尺度上变化不大,反映了该断裂晚更新世以来的活动强度比较平稳     

ANALYSIS OF EVOLUTION OF THE RIYUESHAN FAULT SINCE LATE PLEISTOCENE USING STRUCTURAL GEOMORPHOLOGY

The northeastern margin of Tibetan plateau is an active block controlled by the eastern Kunlun fault zone, the Qilian Shan-Haiyuan fault zone, and the Altyn Tagh fault zone. It is the frontier and the sensitive area of neotectonic activity since the Cenozoic. There are widespread folds, thrust faults and stike-slip faults in the northeastern Tibetan plateau produced by the intensive tectonic deformation, indicating that this area is suffering the crustal shortening, left-lateral shear and vertical uplift. The Riyueshan Fault is one of the major faults in the dextral strike-slip faults systems, which lies between the two major large-scale left-lateral strike-slip faults, the Qilian-Haiyuan Fault and the eastern Kunlun Fault. In the process of growing and expanding of the entire Tibetan plateau, the dextral strike-slip faults play an important role in regulating the deformation and transformation between the secondary blocks. In the early Quaternary, because of the northeastward expansion of the northeastern Tibetan plateau, tectonic deformations such as NE-direction extrusion shortening, clockwise rotation, and SEE-direction extrusion occurred in the northeastern margin of the Tibetan plateau, which lead to the left-lateral slip movement of the NWW-trending major regional boundary faults. As the result, the NNW-trending faults which lie between these NWW direction faults are developed. The main geomorphic units developed within the research area are controlled by the Riyueshan Fault, formed due to the northeastward motion of the Tibet block. These geomorphic units could be classified as:Qinghai Lake Basin, Haiyan Basin, Datonghe Basin, Dezhou Basin, and the mountains developed between the basins such as the Datongshan and the Riyueshan. Paleo basins, alluvial fans, multiple levels of terraces are developed at mountain fronts. The climate variation caused the formation of the geomorphic units during the expansion period of the lakes within the northeastern Tibetan plateau. There are two levels of alluvial fans and three levels of fluvial terrace developed in the study area, the sediments of the alluvial fans and fluvial terraces formed by different sources are developed in the same period. The Riyueshan Fault connects with the NNW-trending left-lateral strike-slip north marginal Tuoleshan fault in the north, and obliquely connects with the Lajishan thrust fault in the south. The fault extends for about 180km from north to south, passing through Datonghe, Reshui coal mine, Chaka River, Tuole, Ketu and Xicha, and connecting with the Lajishan thrusts near the Kesuer Basin. The Riyueshan Fault consists of five discontinuous right-step en-echelon sub-fault segments, with a spacing of 2~3km, and pull-apart basins are formed in the stepovers. The Riyueshan Fault is a secondary fault located in the Qaidam-Qilian active block which is controlled by the major boundary faults, such as the East Kunlun Fault and the Qilian-Haiyuan Fault. Its activity characteristics provide information of the outward expansion of the northeastern margin of Tibet. Tectonic landforms are developed along the Riyueshan Fault. Focusing on the distinct geomorphic deformation since late Pleistocene, the paper obtains the vertical displacement along the fault strike by RTK measurement method. Based on the fault growth-linkage theory, the evolution of the Riyueshan Fault and the related kinetic background are discussed. The following three conclusions are obtained:1)According to the characteristics of development of the three-stage 200km-long steep fault scarp developed in the landforms of the late Pleistocene alluvial fans and terraces, the Riyueshan Fault is divided into five segments, with the most important segment located in the third stepover(CD-3); 2)The three-stage displacement distribution pattern of the Riyueshan Fault reveals that the fault was formed by the growths and connections of multiple secondary faults and is in the second stage of fault growth and connection. With CD-3 as the boundary, the faults on the NW side continue to grow and connect; the fault activity time on the SE side is shorter, and the activity intensity is weaker; 3)The extreme value of the fault displacement distribution curve indicates the location of strain concentration and stress accumulation. With the stepover CD-3 as the boundary, the stress and strain on NW side are mainly concentrated in the middle and fault stepovers. The long-term accumulation range of stress on the SE side is relatively dispersed. The stress state may be related to the counterclockwise rotation inside the block under the compression of regional tectonic stress.     

SLIP RATES OF THE RIYUE MT. FAULT AT DEZHOU SEGMENT SINCE LATE PLEISTOCENE

The Riyue Mt. Fault is a secondary fault controlled by the major regional boundary faults (East Kunlun Fault and Qilian-Haiyuan Fault). It lies in the interior of Qaidam-Qilianshan block and between the major regional boundary faults. The Riyue Mt. fault zone locates in the special tectonic setting which can provide some evidences for recent activity of outward extension of NE Tibetan plateau, so it is of significance to determine the activity of Riyue Mt. Fault since late Pleistocene to Holocene. In this paper, we have obtained some findings along the Dezhou segment of Riyue Mt. Fault by interpreting the piedmont alluvial fans, measuring fault scarps, and excavating trenches across the fault scarp. The findings are as follows:(1) Since the late Pleistocene, there are an alluvial fan f_p and three river terraces T₁-T₃ formed on the Dezhou segment. The abandonment age of f_p is approximately (21.2±0.6) ka, and that of the river terrace T₂ is (12.4±0.11) ka. (2) Since the late Pleistocene, the dextral strike-slip rate of the Riyue Mt. Fault is (2.41±0.25) mm/a. In the Holocene, the dextral strike-slip rate of the fault is (2.18±0.40) mm/a, and its vertical displacement rate is (0.24±0.16) mm/a. This result indicates that the dextral strike-slip rate of the Riyue Mt. Fault has not changed since the late Pleistocene. It is believed that, as one of the dextral strikeslip faults, sandwiched between the the regional big left-lateral strike-slip faults, the Riyue Mt. Fault didn't cut the boundary zone of the large block. What's more, the dextral strike-slip faults play an important role in the coordination of deformation between the sub-blocks during the long term growth and expansion of the northeast Tibetan plateau.     

Late Cenozoic transpression in southwestern Mongolia and the Gobi Altai-Tien Shan connection

The Gobi Altai region of southwestern Mongolia is a natural laboratory for studying processes of active, transpressional, intracontinental mountain building at different stages of development. The region is structurally dominated by several major E—W left-lateral strike-slip fault systems. The North Gobi Altai fault system is a seismically active, right-stepping, left-lateral, strike-slip fault system that can be traced along the surface for over 350 km. The eastern two-thirds of the fault system ruptured during a major earthquake (M = 8.3) in 1957, whereas degraded fault scarps cutting alluvial deposits along the western third of the system indicate that this segment did not rupture during the 1957 event but has been active during the Quaternary. The highest mountains in the Gobi Altai are restraining bend uplifts along the length of the fault system. Detailed transects across two of the restraining bends indicate that they have asymmetric flower structure cross-sectional geometries, with thrust faults rooting into oblique-slip and strike-slip master faults. Continued NE-directed convergence across the fault system, coupled with left-lateral strike-slip displacements, will lead to growth and coalescence of the restraining bends into a continuous sublinear range, possibly obscuring the original strike-slip fault system; this may be a common mountain building process.

The largely unknown Gobi-Tien Shan fault system is a major left-lateral strike-slip fault system (1200 km + long) that links the southern ranges of the Gobi Altai with the Barkol Tagh and Bogda Shan of the easternmost Tien Shan in China. Active scarps cutting alluvial deposits are visible on satellite imagery along much of its central section, indicating Quaternary activity. The total displacement is unknown, but small parallel splays have apparent offsets of 20 + km, suggesting that the main fault zone has experienced significantly more displacement. Field investigations conducted at two locations in southwestern Mongolia indicate that late Cenozoic transpressional uplift is still active along the fault system. The spatial relationship between topography and active faults in the Barkol Tagh and Bogda Shan strongly suggests that these ranges are large, coalescing, restraining bends that have accommodated the fault's left-lateral motion by thrusting, oblique-slip displacement and uplift. Thus, from a Mongolian perspective, the easternmost Tien Shan formed where it is because it lies at the western termination zone of the Gobi-Tien Shan fault system. The Gobi-Tien Shan fault system is one of the longest fault systems in central Asia and, together with the North Gobi Altai and other, smaller, subparallel fault systems, is accommodating the eastward translation of south Mongolia relative to the Hangay Dome and Siberia. These displacements are interpreted to be due to eastward viscous flow of uppermost mantle material in the topographically low, E–W trending corridor between the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau and the Hangay Dome, presumably in response to the Indo-Eurasian collision 2500 km to the south.     

LATE QUATERNARY ACTIVITY OF THE CENTRAL SEGMENT OF THE DARI FAULT AND RESTUDY OF THE SURFACE RUPTURE ZONE OF THE 1947 M73/4 DARI EARTHQUAKE,QINGHAI PROVINCE

Bayan Hara Block is one of the most representative active blocks resulting from the lateral extrusion of Tibet Plateau since the Cenozoic. Its southern and northern boundary faults are characterized by typical strike-slip shear deformation. Its eastern boundary is blocked by the Yangze block and its horizontal movement is transformed into the vertical movement of the Longmen Shan tectonic belt, leading to the uplift of the Longmen Shan Mountains and forming a grand geomorphic barrier on the eastern margin of the Tibet Plateau. A series of large earthquakes occurred along the boundary faults of the Bayan Hara Block in the past twenty years, which have attracted attention of many scholars. At present, the related studies of active tectonics on Bayan Hara Block are mainly concentrated on the boundary faults, such as Yushu-Ganzi-Xianshuihe Fault, East Kunlun Fault and Longmen Shan Fault. However, there are also some large faults inside the block, which not only have late Quaternary activity, but also have tectonic conditions to produce strong earthquake. These faults divide the Bayan Hara Block into some secondary blocks, and may play important roles in the kinematics and dynamics mechanism of the Bayan Hara Block, or even the eastern margin of the Tibet Plateau. The Dari Fault is one of the left-lateral strike-slip faults in the Bayan Hara Block. The Dari Fault starts at the eastern pass of the Kunlun Mountains, extends eastward through the south of Yalazela, Yeniugou and Keshoutan, the fault strike turns to NNE direction at Angcanggou, then turns to NE direction again at Moba town, Qinghai Province, and the fault ends near Nanmuda town, Sichuan Province, with a total length of more than 500km. The fault has been considered to be a late Quaternary active fault and the 1947 M73/4 Dari earthquake was produced by its middle segment. But studies on the late Quaternary activity of the Dari Fault are still weak. The previous research mainly focused on the investigation of the surface rupture and damages of the 1947 M73/4 Dari earthquake. However, there were different opinions about the scale of the M73/4 earthquake surface rupture zone. Dai Hua-guang(1983)thought that the surface rupture of the earthquake was about 150km long, but Qinghai Earthquake Agency(1984)believed that the length of surface rupture zone was only 58km. Based on interpretation of high-resolution images and field investigations, in this paper, we studied the late Quaternary activity of the Dari Fault and the surface rupture zone of the 1947 Dari earthquake. Late Quaternary activity in the central segment of the Dari Fault is particularly significant. A series of linear tectonic landforms, such as fault trough valley, fault scarps, fault springs and gully offsets, etc. are developed along the Dari Fault. And the surface rupture zone of the 1947 Dari earthquake is still relatively well preserved. We conducted a follow-up field investigation for the surface rupture zone of the 1947 Dari earthquake and found that the surface rupture related to the Dari earthquake starts at Longgen village in Moba town, and ends near the northwest of the Yilonggounao in Jianshe town, with a length of about 70km. The surface rupture is primarily characterized by scarps, compressional ridges, pull-apart basins, landslides, cleavage, and the coseismic offset is about 2~4m determined by a series of offset gullies. The surface rupture zone extends to the northwest of Yilonggounao and becomes ambiguous. It is mainly characterized by a series of linear fault springs along the surface rupture zone. Therefore, we suggest that the surface rupture zone of the 1947 Dari earthquake ends at the northwest of Yilonggounao. In summary, the central segment of the Dari Fault can be characterized by strong late Quaternary activity, and the surface rupture zone of the 1947 Dari earthquake is about 70km long.     

阿尔金构造系晚更新世中晚期以来的逆冲活动

在阿尔金构造系中,阿尔金走滑断裂具有逆冲分量。文中将阿尔金构造系的逆冲活动分为西、中、东3段描述。西段从阿依耐克至车尔臣河河口,阿尔金南缘断裂具有逆冲活动迹象,在山前发育了规模较小的逆冲断层,有较新的地貌面被错动;中段从车尔臣河河口至拉配泉一带,在阿尔金山北缘发育大规模的逆冲断层,有较新的地貌面被错动;东段从拉配泉至宽滩山,逆冲断层有2种形式,此段阿尔金北缘断裂有逆冲分量,同时在阿尔金山北缘及山前冲洪积扇上发育逆冲断裂。自晚更新世中晚期以来,中段及东段逆冲速率<2mm/a。中段西部江尕拉萨依地区自16kaBP以来逆冲速率约为0.33mm/a,中部米兰桥一带自32kaBP以来的逆冲速率约为1.42mm/a。东段最大的逆冲速率在近中部的团结乡,自约5.31kaBP以来达到约1.81mm/a,向东西两端有减小的趋势,在西部柳城子自约72.36kaBP以来的逆冲速率为0.57mm/a,而东端的红柳沟自约8.99kaBP以来仅为0.05mm/a。团结乡地区约自19kaBP以来,逆冲活动有增强的趋势     

THE LATE QUATERNARY ACTIVITY AND FORMATION MECHANISM OF BAOERTU FAULT ZONE,EASTERN TIANSHAN SEGMENT

Influenced by the far-field effect of India-Eurasia collision, Tianshan Mountains is one of the most intensely deformed and seismically active intracontinental orogenic belts in Cenozoic. The deformation of Tianshan is not only concentrated on its south and north margins, but also on the interior of the orogen. The deformation of the interior of Tianshan is dominated by NW-trending right-lateral strike-slip faults and ENE-trending left-lateral strike-slip faults. Compared with numerous studies on the south and north margins of Tianshan, little work has been done to quantify the slip rates of faults within the Tianshan Mountains. Therefore, it is a significant approach for geologists to understand the current tectonic deformation style of Tianshan Mountains by studying the late Quaternary deformation characteristics of large fault and fold zones extending through the interior of Tianshan. In this paper, we focus on a large near EW trending fault, the Baoertu Fault (BETF) in the interior of Tianshan, which is a large fault in the eastern Tianshan area with apparent features of deformation, and a boundary fault between the central and southern Tianshan. An M_S5.0 earthquake event occurred on BETF, which indicates that this fault is still active. In order to understand the kinematics and obtain the late Quaternary slip rate of BETF, we made a detailed research on its late Quaternary kinematic features based on remote sensing interpretation, drone photography, and field geological and geomorphologic survey, the results show that the BETF is of left-lateral strike-slip with thrust component in late Quaternary. In the northwestern Kumishi basin, BETF sinistrally offsets the late Pleistocene piedmont alluvial fans, forming fault scarps and generating sinistral displacement of gullies and geomorphic surfaces. In the bedrock region west of Benbutu village, BETF cuts through the bedrock and forms the trough valley. Besides, a series of drainages or rivers which cross the fault zone and date from late Pleistocene have been left-laterally offset systematically, resulting in a sinistral displacement ranging 0.93~4.53km. By constructing the digital elevation model (DEM) for the three sites of typical deformed morphologic units, we measured the heights of fault scarps and left-lateral displacements of different gullies forming in different times, and the result shows that BEFT is dominated by left-lateral strike-slip with thrust component. We realign the bended channels across the fault at BET01 site and obtain the largest displacement of 67m. And we propose that the abandon age of the deformed fan is about 120ka according to the features of the fan. Based on the offsets of channels at BET01 and the abandon age of deformed fan, we estimate the slip rate of 0.56mm/a since late Quaternary. The Tianshan Mountains is divided into several sub-blocks by large faults within the orogen. The deformation in the interior of Tianshan can be accommodated or absorbed by relative movement or rotation. The relative movement of the two sub-blocks surrounded by Boa Fault, Kaiduhe Fault and BETF is the dominant cause for the left-lateral movement of BETF. The left-lateral strike-slip with reverse component of BETF in late Quaternary not only accommodates the horizontal stain within eastern Tianshan but also absorbs some SN shortening of the crust.