FIRST REPORT OF BERO ZECO ACTIVE FAULT IN GÊRZÊ, NORTHERN TIBET

In the interior of the Tibetan Plateau, the active tectonics are primarily marked by conjugate strike slip faults and north-trending rifts, which represent the E-W extension since late Cenozoic of the plateau. The conjugate faults are mainly composed of NE-trending left-lateral strike-slip faults in Qiangtang terrane and NW-trending right-lateral strike-slip faults in Lhasa terrane. While, the rifts mainly strike N, NNW and NNE within southern Tibet. However, it is still a debate on the deformational style and specific adjustment mechanism of E-W extension. One of key reasons causing this debate is the lack of detailed investigation of these active faults, especially within the northwestern plateau. Recently, we found a 20km long, NNW-trending active fault at Bero Zeco in northwestern Tibet. This fault is presented as fault sag ponds, channel offsets and fault scarps. Displacement of channels and geomorphic features suggested that the Bero Zeco Fault(BZF)is a dextral strike-slip fault with a small amount of normal slip component, which may result from the E-W extensional deformation in the interior of Tibet. BZF strikes N330°~340°W, as shown on the satellite image. The main Quaternary strata in the studied area are two stages alluvial fans around the Bero Zeco. From the satellite images, the old alluvial fans were cut by the lake shoreline leaving many of lake terraces. And the young fans cut across the lake terraces and the old fans. By contrasting to the "Paleo-Qiangtang Huge Lake" since late Quaternary, these old alluvial fans could be late Pleistocene with age ranging from 40ka to 50ka. And the young fans could be Holocene. The sag ponds along the BZF are distributed in the late Pleistocene alluvial fans. Also, the BZF displaced the late Pleistocene fans without traces within Holocene fans, suggesting that the BZF is a late Pleistocene active fault. The fault scarps are gentler with the slope angle of around 10° and the vertical offset is about 2m by field measurement. Reconstruction of the offset of channels suggested that the accumulated dextral offset could be about 44m on the late Pleistocene alluvial fans. Therefore, we infer that the dextral slip-rate could be around 1mm/a showing a low-rate deformation characteristic. The angle between the strike of BZF and principal compressive stress axis(σ₁)is around 30°, which is significantly different to the other faults within the conjugate strike-slip fault zones that is 60°~75°. Now, the deformation mechanisms on these conjugate faults are mainly proposed in the studies of obtuse angle between the faults and σ₁, which is likely not applicable for the BZF. We infer that the BZF could be the northward prolongation of the north-trending rifts based on the geometry. This difference suggests that the conjugate strike-slip faults may be formed by two different groups:one is obtuse angle, which is related to block extrusion or shear zones in Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes possibly; the other is acute angle, which may represent the characteristics of new-born fractures. And more studies are needed on their deformation mechanisms.     

HOLOCENE SLIP RATE ALONG THE NE-TRENDING QIXIANG CO FAULT IN THE CENTRAL TIBETAN PLATEAU AND ITS TECTONIC IMPLICATIONS

The two mainstream deformation models of the Tibet plateau are continental escape model and crustal thickening model, the former suggests that the NW-trending Karakoram Fault, Gyaring Co Fault, Beng Co Fault and the Jiali Fault as the Karakoram-Jiali fault zone is the southern border belt and that the dextral strike-slip rate is estimated as up to 10~20mm/yr. However, research results in recent years show that the slip rates along those faults are significantly less than earlier estimates. Taylor et al. (2003)suggest that the conjugate strike-slip faults control the active deformation in the central Tibet. The lack of research on the slip behavior of the NE-trending faults in the central Tibet Plateau constrains our understanding of the central Tibet deformation model. Thus, we choose the NE-direction Qixiang Co Fault located at the north of the Gyaring Co Fault as research object. Based on the interpretation of satellite images, we found several faulted geomorphic sites. Using RTK-GPS ground control point and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)topographic surveying, we obtained less than 10cm/pix-resolution digital elevation model (DEM)in the Yaqu town site. We used the LaDiCaoz_v2.1 software to automatically extract the left-lateral offset of the largest gully on the terrace T₂ surface, which is (21.3±7.1)m, and the vertical dislocation of the scarp on the terrace T₂ surface, which is (0.9±0.1)m. The age of both U-series dating samples on the terrace T₂ is (4.98±0.17)ka and (5.98±0.07)ka, respectively. The Holocene left-lateral slip rate along Qixiang Co Fault is (3.56±1.19)mm/a and the vertical slip rate is (0.15±0.02)mm/a. The kinematic characteristics of the sinistral strike-slip with normal slip coincide with the eastward motion of the central Tibet plateau, and its magnitude is in agreement with its conjugate Gyaring Co Fault, suggesting that the deformation pattern of the central Tibetan plateau complies with the conjugate strike-slip faults mode.     

NEW DISCOVERY OF RESHUI-TAOSTUO RIVER FAULT IN DULAN,QINGHAI PROVINCE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS

The 40km-long, NEE trending Reshui-Taostuo River Fault was found in the southern Dulan-Chaka highland by recent field investigation, which is a strike-slip fault with some normal component. DEM data was generated by small unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)on key geomorphic units with resolution<0.05m. Based on the interpretation and field investigation, we get two conclusions:1)It is the first time to define the Reshui-Taostuo River Fault, and the fault is 40km long with a 6km-long surface rupture; 2)There are left-handed dislocations in the gullies and terraces cut by the fault. On the high-resolution DEM image obtained by UAV, the offsets are(9.3±0.5) m, (17.9±1.5) m, and(36.8±2) m, measured by topographic profile recovery of gullies. The recovery measurements of two terraces present that the horizontal offset of T₁/T₀ is(18.2±1.5) m and the T₂/T₁ is (35.8±2) m, which is consistent with the offsets from gullies. According to the historical earthquake records, a M5 3/4 earthquake on April 10, 1938 and a M_S5.0 earthquake on March 21, 1952 occurred at the eastern end of the surface rupture, which may be related to the activity of the fault. By checking the county records of Dulan and other relevant data, we find that there are no literature records about the two earthquakes, which is possibly due to the far distance to the epicenter at that time, the scarcity of population in Dulan, or that the earthquake occurred too long ago that led to losing its records. The southernmost ends of the Eastern Kunlun Fault and the Elashan Fault converge to form a wedge-shaped extruded fault block toward the northwest. The Dulan Basin, located at the end of the wedge-shaped fault block, is affected by regional NE and SW principal compressive stress and the shear stress of the two boundary faults. The Dulan Basin experienced a complex deformation process of compression accompanying with extension. In the process of extrusion, the specific form of extension is the strike-slip faults at each side of the wedge, and there is indeed a north-east and south-west compression between the two controlling wedge-shaped fault block boundary faults, the Eastern Kunlun and Elashan Faults. The inferred mechanism of triangular wedge extrusion deformation in this area is quite different from the pure rigid extrusion model. Therefore, Dulan Basin is a wedge-shaped block sandwiched between the two large-scale strike-slip faults. Due to the compression of the northeast and southwest directions of the region, the peripheral faults of the Dulan Basin form a series of southeast converging plume thrust faults on the northeast edge of the basin near the Elashan Fault, which are parallel to the Elashan Fault in morphology and may converge with the Elashan Fault in subsurface. The southern marginal fault of the Dulan Basin(Reshui-Taostuo River Fault)near the Eastern Kunlun fault zone is jointly affected by the left-lateral strike-slip Eastern Kunlun Fault and the right-lateral strike-slip Elashan Fault, presenting a left-lateral strike-slip characteristic. Meanwhile, the wedge-shaped fault block extrudes to the northwest, causing local extension at the southeast end, and the fault shows the extensional deformation. These faults absorb or transform the shear stress in the northeastern margin of the Tibet Plateau. Therefore, our discovery of the Dulan Reshui-Taostuo River Fault provides important constraints for better understanding of the internal deformation mode and mechanism of the fault block in the northeastern Tibetan plateau. The strike of Reshui-Taostuo River Fault is different from the southern marginal fault of the Qaidam Basin. The Qaidam south marginal burial fault is the boundary fault between the Qaidam Basin and the East Kunlun structural belt, with a total length of ~500km. The geophysical data show that Qaidam south marginal burial fault forms at the boundary between the positive gravity anomaly of the southern East Kunlun structural belt and the negative gravity anomaly gradient zone of the northern Qaidam Basin, showing as a thrust fault towards the basin. The western segment of the fault was active at late Pleistocene, and the eastern segment near Dulan County was active at early-middle Pleistocene. The Reshui-Taostuo River Fault is characterized by sinistral strike-slip with a normal component. The field evidence indicates that the latest active period of this fault was Holocene, with a total length of only 40km. Neither remote sensing image interpretation nor field investigation indicate the fault extends further westward and intersects with the Qaidam south marginal burial fault. Moreover, it shows that its strike is relatively consistent with the East Kunlun fault zone in spatial distribution and has a certain angle with the burial fault in the southern margin of Qaidam Basin. Therefore, there is no structural connection between the Reshui-Taostuo River Fault and the Qaidam south marginal burial fault.     

ANALYSIS OF THE LATE QUATERNARY ACTIVITY ALONG THE WENCHUAN-MAOXIAN FAULT -MIDDLE OF THE BACK-RANGE FAULT AT THE LONGMENSHAN FAULT ZONE

The Longmenshan fault zone is located in eastern margin of Tibetan plateau and bounded on the east by Sichuan Basin, and tectonically the location is very important. It has a deep impact on the topography, geomorphology, geological structure and seismicity of southwestern China. It is primarily composed of multiple parallel thrust faults, namely, from northwest to southeast, the back-range, the central, the front-range and the piedmont hidden faults, respectively. The M_S8.0 Wenchuan earthquake of 12^th May 2008 ruptured the central and the front-range faults. But the earthquake didn't rupture the back-range fault. This shows that these two faults are both active in Holocene. But until now, we don't know exactly the activity of the back-range fault. The back-range fault consists of the Pingwu-Qingchuan Fault, the Wenchuan-Maoxian Fault and the Gengda-Longdong Fault. Through satellite image(Google Earth)interpretation, combining with field investigation, we preliminarily found out that five steps of alluvial platforms or terraces have been developed in Minjiang region along the Wenchuan-Maoxian Fault. T₁ and T₂ terraces are more continuous than T₃, T₄ and T₅ terraces. Combining with the previous work, we discuss the formation ages of the terraces and conclude, analyze and summarize the existing researches about the terraces of Minjiang River. We constrain the ages of T₁, T₂, T₃, T₄ and T₅ surfaces to 3~10ka BP,~20ka BP, 40~50ka BP, 60ka BP and 80ka BP, respectively. Combining with geomorphologic structural interpretation, measurements of the cross sections of the terraces by differential GPS and detailed site visits including terraces, gullies and other geologic landforms along the fault, we have reason to consider that the Wenchuan-Maoxian Fault was active between the formation age of T₃ and T₂ terrace, but inactive since T₂ terrace formed. Its latest active period should be the middle and late time of late Pleistocene, and there is no activity since the Holocene. Combining with the knowledge that the central and the front-range faults are both Quaternary active faults, the activity of Longmenshan fault zone should have shifted to the central and the front-range faults which are closer to the basin, this indicates that the Longmenshan thrust belt fits the "Piggyback Type" to some extent.     

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.     

2012年6月24日宁蒗-盐源MS5.7地震发震构造刍议

2012年6月24日宁蒗-盐源M_S5.7地震,位于丽江-小金河断裂西北30km。区域范围内历史上地震频繁,为滇西北地震多发区。震区断裂构造复杂,主要发育NW向、NE向2组断裂,呈棋盘格式展布。经野外实地考察,震中附近发育NW向永宁断裂和NE向日古鲁-岩瓦断裂2条晚更新世活动断裂。永宁断裂由温泉断层、永宁断层和阿拉凹断层组成。在卫星影像上线性特征清晰,断层地貌明显。断裂对永宁、泸沽湖第四纪盆地具有严格的控制作用,沿线多处发育温泉。前所河的多条支流顺断层发育,八七—海衣角一带、日古鲁东山厝附近,多处河流右旋位错。阿拉凹一带断错T₂阶地上更新统沉积,被错地层最新年龄(TL)为(21.19±1.80)ka,是一条以右旋走滑兼正断性质的晚更新世活动断层。日古鲁—岩瓦断裂对岩瓦、日古鲁、利家咀等古近纪、新近纪盆地和永宁第四纪盆地有着明显的控制作用,断错中更新世和上更新世地层。中挖都—利家咀一带,有多条小溪呈现出同步左旋位错特征。断裂在晚更新世有着明显的活动迹象,以左旋走滑运动为主。据震源机制解结果,此次地震为正断兼右旋走滑型地震,NW向节面产状与永宁断裂基本吻合,地震破裂型式与永宁断裂运动学特征一致。地震烈度长轴方向、Ⅷ度烈度异常点线性分布以及构造地裂缝方向均与永宁断裂走向一致。分析认为,永宁断裂为此次地震的发震构造。此外,1996年丽江7.0级地震、1976年中甸5.5级地震以及本次5.7级地震,均具有明显的正倾滑分量。这些地震多分布在哈巴雪山和玉龙雪山新构造隆起周缘。根据区域地形条件分析,该地区的正断层运动作用很可能与地形巨大反差引起的重力势能有关。     

滇西北通甸-巍山断裂中段的晚第四纪滑动速率

通甸-巍山断裂属于红河断裂带的分支断裂,目前对该断裂中段的晚第四纪活动特征研究较少。野外地质地貌调查和年代学研究结果表明,通甸-巍山断裂中段是以右旋走滑运动为主,兼有张性正断的全新世活动断裂,其最新活动时代距今约2.2ka。晚更新世中晚期以来断裂中段平均水平滑动速率为1.25mm/a,全新世晚期以来垂直运动趋于增强。该研究不仅为该断裂的地震危险性评价工作提供了基础资料,而且有助于理解川滇菱形块体西南边界构造变形的空间分配特点     

FAULTED LANDFORM AND SLIP RATE OF THE JINGHE SECTION OF THE BOLOKENU-AQIKEKUDUKE FAULT SINCE THE LATE PLEISTOCENE

The Bolokonu-Aqikekuduke fault zone(Bo-A Fault)is the plate convergence boundary between the middle and the northern Tianshan. Bo-A Fault is an inherited right-lateral strike-slip active fault and obliquely cuts the Tianshan Mountains to the northwest. Accurately constrained fault activity and slip rate is crucial for understanding the tectonic deformation mechanism, strain rate distribution and regional seismic hazard. Based on the interpretation of satellite remote sensing images and topographic surveys, this paper divides the alluvial fans in the southeast of Jinghe River into four phases, Fan1, Fan2, Fan3 and Fan4 by geomorphological elevation, water density, depth of cut, etc. This paper interprets gullies and terrace scarps by high-resolution LiDAR topographic data. Right-laterally offset gullies, fault scarps and terrace scarps are distributed in Fan1, Fan2b and Fan3. We have identified a total of 30 right-laterally offset gullies and terrace scarps. Minimum right-lateral displacement is about 6m and the maximum right-lateral displacements are(414±10)m, (91±5)m and(39±1)m on Fan2b, Fan3a and Fan3b. The landform scarp dividing Fan2b and Fan3a is offset right-laterally by (212±11)m. Combining the work done by the predecessors in the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains with Guliya ice core climate curve, this paper concludes that the undercut age of alluvial fan are 56~64ka, 35~41ka, 10~14ka in the Tianshan Mountains. The slip rate of Bo-A Fault since the formation of the Fan2b, Fan3a and Fan3b of the alluvial-proluvial fan is 3.3~3.7mm/a, 2.2~2.6mm/a and 2.7~3.9mm/a. The right-lateral strike-slip rate since the late Pleistocene is obtained to be 3.1±0.3mm/a based on high-resolution LiDAR topographic data and Monte Carlo analysis.     

NEW EVIDENCES FOR LATE QUATERNARY ACTIVITY IN THE SOUTHERN SEGMENT OF THE YISHU-TANGTOU FAULT,THE TAN-LU FAULT ZONE,AND ITS TECTONIC IMPLICATION

The Tan-Lu Fault Zone(TLFZ), a well-known lithosphere fault zone in eastern China, is a boundary tectonic belt of the secondary block within the North China plate, and its seismic risk has always been a focus problem. Previous studies were primarily conducted on the eastern graben faults of the Yishu segment where there are historical earthquake records, but the faults in western graben have seldom been involved. So, there has been no agreement about the activity of the western graben fault from the previous studies. This paper focuses on the activity of the two buried faults in the western graben along the southern segment of Yishu through combination of shallow seismic reflection profile and composite drilling section exploration. Shallow seismic reflection profile reveals that the Tangwu-Gegou Fault(F₄)only affects the top surface of Suqian Formation, therefore, the fault may be an early Quaternary fault. The Yishui-Tangtou Fault(F₃)has displaced the upper Pleistocene series in the shallow seismic reflection profile, suggesting that the fault may be a late Pleistocene active fault. Drilling was implemented in Caiji Town and Lingcheng Town along the Yishui-Tangtou Fault(F₃)respectively, and the result shows that the latest activity time of Yishui-Tangtou Fault(F₃)is between(91.2±4.4)ka and(97.0±4.8)ka, therefore, the fault belongs to late Pleistocene active fault. Combined with the latest research on the activity of other faults along TLFZ, both faults in eastern and western graben were active during the late Pleistocene in the southern segment of the Yishu fault zone, however, only the fault in eastern graben was active in the Holocene. This phenomenon is the tectonic response to the subduction of the Pacific and Philippine Sea Plate and collision between India and Asian Plate. The two late Quaternary active faults in the Yishu segment of TLFZ are deep faults and present different forms on the surface and in near surface according to studies of deep seismic reflection profile, seismic wave function and seismic relocation. Considering the tectonic structure of the southern segment of Yishu fault zone, the relationship between deep and shallow structures, and the impact of 1668 Tancheng earthquake(M=8(1/2)), the seismogenic ability of moderate-strong earthquake along the Yishui-Tangtou Fault(F₃)can't be ignored.     

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.     

青海日月山断裂德州段断错地貌的高分辨率遥感影像解译

青海日月山断裂带是青藏高原东北缘柴达木—祁连活动地块内部的一条NNW走向的右旋走滑兼逆冲断裂。 本文基于ENVI 5.1遥感图像处理平台对研究区高分一号多光谱(分辨率8 m)和全色(分辨率2 m)影像进行融合, 获取了高保真、 高分辨率的卫星遥感影像。 通过多尺度、 多角度、 多层次的构造解译以及对比, 将日月山西支断裂的海晏段划分为德州段(F_1-3)和海晏段(F_1-4)两个次级段, 同时利用高分辨率Google Earth影像对德州段断错微地貌进行了解译、 分析, 结合对德州段野外地质考察, 进一步验证了影像解译结果。 研究表明: 日月山断裂的德州段由5条次级段落组成(f₁, f₂, f₃, f₄, f₅), 并且该段断裂晚更新世以来活动性明显, 以右旋走滑为主兼有逆倾滑分量; 断裂在晚更新世以来发生过多期断层活动, 其中全新世断层活动可划分为两期, 最新一期水平位错量为6.5~8.7 m, 第二期水平位错量为12.3~14 m; 晚更新世也可划分出两期活动, 第一期水平位错量为16~20 m, 第二期水平位错量为28.5~47 m。     

LATE QUATERNARY FAULTED LANDFORMS AND FAULT ACTIVITY OF THE HUASHAN PIEDMONT FAULT

Based on the 1︰50000 active fault geological mapping, combining with high-precision remote imaging, field geological investigation and dating technique, the paper investigates the stratum, topography and faulted landforms of the Huashan Piedmont Fault. Research shows that the Huashan Piedmont Fault can be divided into Lantian to Huaxian section (the west section), Huaxian to Huayin section (the middle section) and Huayin to Lingbao section (the east section) according to the respective different fault activity. The fault in Lantian to Huaxian section is mainly contacted by loess and bedrock. Bedrock fault plane has already become unsmooth and mirror surfaces or striations can not be seen due to the erosion of running water and wind. 10~20m high fault scarps can be seen ahead of mountain in the north section near Mayu gully and Qiaoyu gully, and we can see Malan loess faulted profiles in some gully walls. In this section terraces are mainly composed of T₁ and T₂ which formed in the early stage of Holocene and late Pleistocene respectively. Field investigation shows that T₁ is continuous and T₂ is dislocated across the fault. These indicate that in this section the fault has been active in the late Pleistocene and its activity becomes weaker or no longer active after that. In the section between Huaxian and Huayin, neotectonics is very obvious, fault triangular facets are clearly visible and fault scarps are in linear distribution. Terrace T₁, T₂ and T₃ develop well on both sides of most gullies. Dating data shows that T₁ forms in 2~3ka BP, T₂ forms in 6~7ka BP, and T₃ forms in 60~70ka BP. All terraces are faulted in this section, combing with average ages and scarp heights of terraces, we calculate the average vertical slip rates during the period of T₃ to T₂, T₂ to T₁ and since the formation of T₁, which are 0.4mm/a, 1.1mm/a and 1.6mm/a, and among them, 1.1mm/a can roughly represent as the average vertical slip rate since the middle stage of Holocene. Fault has been active several times since the late period of late Pleistocene according to fault profiles, in addition, Tanyu west trench also reveals the dislocation of the culture layer of(0.31~0.27)a BP. 1~2m high scarps of floodplains which formed in(400~600)a BP can be seen at Shidiyu gully and Gouyu gully. In contrast with historical earthquake data, we consider that the faulted culture layer exposed by Tanyu west trench and the scarps of floodplains are the remains of Huanxian M_S8½ earthquake. The fault in Huayin to Lingbao section is also mainly contacted by loess and mountain bedrock. Malan loess faulted profiles can be seen at many river outlets of mountains. Terrace geomorphic feature is similar with that in the west section, T₁ is covered by thin incompact Holocene sand loam, and T₂ is covered by Malan loess. OSL dating shows that T₂ formed in the early to middle stage of late Pleistocene. Field investigation shows that T₁ is continuous and T₂ is dislocated across the fault. These also indicate that in this section fault was active in the late Pleistocene and its activity becomes weaker or no longer active since Holocene. According to this study combined with former researches, we incline to the view that the seismogenic structure of Huanxian M_S8½ earthquake is the Huashan Piedmont Fault and the Northern Margin Fault of Weinan Loess, as for whether there are other faults or not awaits further study.     

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.     

EVIDENCE OF HOLOCENE ACTIVITY DISCOVERED IN ANHUI ZIYANGSHAN SEGMENT OF TANLU FAULT ZONE

Anqiu-Juxian Fault(F₅) is the latest active fault in the eastern graben of the middle segment of the Tanlu fault zone. In recent years, the research results of F₅ in Jiangsu Province are abundant, and it is found that Holocene activity is prevalent in different segments, and the movement pattern is dominated by dextral strike-slip and squeezing thrust. The Anhui segment and the Jiangsu segment of the Tan-Lu fault zone are bounded by the Huaihe River. Previous studies have not discussed the extension and activity of F₅ in the south of the Huaihe River in Anhui Province. This paper chooses the Ziyangshan segment of Tanlu fault zone in the south of the Huaihe River as the breakthrough point, which is consistent with the linear image feature of extension of F₅ in Jiangsu Province. Through the remote sensing image interpretation, geological and geomorphological investigation and trench excavation, we initially get the following understanding:(1)The linear structural features of the Ziyang segment are clear, and the fault is developed on the gentle slope of the Mesozoic red sandstone uplift along the Fushan-Ziyangshan, which is the southern extension of the Anqiu-Juxian Fault(F₅); (2)The excavation of the Zhuliu trench reveals that the late Pleistocene clastic layers are interrupted, and the late late Pleistocene to early Holocene black clay layers are filled along the fault to form black fault strips and black soil-filled wedges, indicating that the latest active age of the fault is early Holocene; (3)The excavation of Zhuliu trench reveals that there are at least 3 paleo-earthquake events since the Quaternary, the first paleo-seismic event is dated to the early and middle Quaternary, and the 2nd paleo-seismic event is 20.10~13.46ka BP, the age of the third paleo-seismic event is(10.15±0.05)~(8.16±0.05)ka BP. These results complement our understanding of the late Quaternary activity in the Anhui segment of the Tanlu fault zone, providing basic data for earthquake monitoring and seismic damage prevention in Anhui Province.     

PRELIMINARY STUDY OF PALEOEARTHQUAKES ON THE MIDDLE-EASTERN SEGMENT OF JINTA NANSHAN FAULT

Hexi Corridor is located at the northeastern margin of the Tibetan plateau. Series of late Quaternary active faults are developed in this area. Numerous strong earthquakes occurred in history and nowadays. Jinta Nanshan fault is one of the boundary faults between the Qinghai-Tibet block and the Alxa block. The fault starts from the northwest of Wutongdun in the west, passes through Changshan, Yuanyangchi reservoir, Dakouzi, and ends in the east of Hongdun. Because the Jinta Nanshan fault is a new active fault in this region, it is important to ascertain its paleoearthquakes since late Pleistocene for the earthquake risk study. Previous studies were carried out on the western part, such as field geomorphic investigation and trench excavation, which shows strong activity in Holocene on the western segment of Jinta Nanshan fault. On the basis of the above research, in this paper, we carried out satellite image interpretation, detailed investigation of faulted landforms and differential GPS survey for the whole fault. Focusing on the middle-eastern part, we studied paleoearthquakes through trench exploration on the Holocene alluvial fan and optical luminescence dating. The main results are as follows:Early Pleistocene to late Pleistocene alluvial strata are widely developed along the fault and Holocene sediment is only about tens of centimeters thick. The Jinta Nanshan fault shows long-lasting activity since late Quaternary and reveals tens of centimeters of the lowest scarp which illustrates new strong activity on the middle-east segment of this fault. Since late Pleistocene, 4 paleoearthquakes happened respectively before(15.16±1.29) ka, before(9.9±0.5) ka, about 6ka and after(3.5±0.4) ka, revealed by 4 trenches, of which 2 are laid on relatively thicker Holocene alluvial fan. Two events occurred since middle Holocene, and both ruptured the whole fault.     

DISTRIBUTION OF YANGJIA VILLAGE-YAODIAN SECTION OF WEIHE FAULT AND THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ITS LATE QUATERNARY ACTIVITY

The Yangjia Village-Yaodian segment of Weihe Fault, starting from Yangjia Village in the west, passing through Weijiaquan, Jinjiazhuang, Donger Village, Chenjiatai to Yaodian, occurs as a NE-striking fault dipping south with a total length of 33 kilometers. As a syn-depositional normal fault, it extends along the leading and trail edge of T₁, T₂ and T₃ terrace at the northern bank of Weihe River. Results of remote sensing interpretation, shallow seismic exploration, exploratory trench, and drilling show that the Yangjia Village-Yaodian section of Weihe Fault manifests as fault scarps, overlapping with the NE-extending terrace scarp at the northern bank of Weihe River. Weihe Fault broke the T₁ that can be distinguished on the shallow seismic profile and multiple profiles with broken signs from T₁ to the ground, which is the same with the cracks through the Han Tomb at the top of the exploratory trench in Yangjia Village. It shows that the fault may still be active from the late Pleistocene to Holocene. Through composite drilling section and the analysis of exploratory trench, there is no significant difference in activity between the Yangjia Village-Jinjiazhuang and Donger Village-Yaodian section. This segment has experienced a large displacement event since (46.0±3.3)ka BP, approximately 11.0~16.5m, with a vertical slip rate of 0.34~0.45mm/a. The most recent activity occurred approximately around 2.0ka BP. The left-step en echelon fracture zone at Jingjiazhuang separates this section into two minor ones, Yangjia Village-Jinjiazhuang section and Donger Villag-Yaodian section. Yangjia Village-Yaodian section in Weihe Fault and Yaodian-Zhangjiawan section which was found out in the Xi'an active fault detection and seismic risk assessment project can be combined into the Yangjia Village-Zhangjiawan section.     

SURFACE TRACKS AND SLIP RATE OF THE FAULT ALONG THE SOUTHERN MARGIN OF THE WUWEI BASIN IN THE LATE QUATERNARY

The fault along the southern margin of the Wuwei Basin, located in the eastern Hexi Corridor, NW China, plays an important role in the thrust fault system in the northern Qilian Mountains. The activities of this fault resulted in the generation of the Gulang earthquake(M_S8.0) in 1927. Based on remote sensing image interpretation, geological and geomorphic observations in the field and ¹⁴C geochronological dating results, we conducted a detailed research on the geometry and kinematics of the fault. According to the discontinuous geometric distribution and variable strike directions, we divide this fault into 5 segments: Kangningqiao Fault(F₁), Nanyinghe Fault(F₂), Shangguchengcun-Zhangliugou Fault(F₃), Tajiazhuang Fault(F₄)and Yanjiazhuang Fault(F₅). Results indicate that this fault, with a total of 60km long trace at the surface, has been active since the late Pleistocene. It behaves predominantly as a thrust fault and is accompanied with a locally sinistral strike-slip component along the Nanyinghe Fault(F₂). Intensive activities of this fault in Holocene have caused extensive occurrence of dislocated landforms along its strike. Some measured displacements of the dislocated geologic or geomorphic units, combined with the ¹⁴C dating results, yield a vertical slip rate of (0.44±0.08)mm/a on this fault in Holocene, and a sinistral strike-slip rate of (1.43±0.08)mm/a on the Nanyinhhe Fault (F₂) in late Pleistocene.     

THE LATE QUATERNARY ACTIVITY FEATURES AND SLIP RATE OF THE YANGGAO-TIANZHEN FAULT

The Shanxi Graben System is one of the intracontinental graben systems developed around the Ordos Block in North China since the Cenozoic, and it provides a unique natural laboratory for studying the long-term tectonic history of active intracontinental normal faults in an extensional environment. Comparing with the dense strong earthquakes in its central part, no strong earthquakes with magnitudes over 7 have been recorded historically in the Jin-Ji-Meng Basin-and-Range Province of the northern Shanxi Graben System. However, this area is located at the conjunction area of several active-tectonic blocks(e.g. the Ordos, Yan Shan and North China Plain blocks), thus it has the tectonic conditions for strong earthquakes. Studying the active tectonics in the northern Shanxi Graben System will thus be of great significance to the seismic hazard assessment. Based on high-resolution remote sensing image interpretations and field investigations, combined with the UAV photogrammetry and OSL dating, we studied the late Quaternary activity and slip rate of the relatively poorly-researched Yanggao-Tianzhen Fault(YTF)in the Jin-Ji-Meng Basin-and-Range Province and got the followings: 1)The YTF extends for more than 75km from Dashagou, Fengzhen, Inner Mongolia in the west to Yiqingpo, Tianzhen, Shanxi Province in the east. In most cases, the YTF lies in the contact zone between the bedrock mountain and the sediments in the basin, but the fault grows into the basin where the fault geometry is irregular. At the vicinity of the Erdun Village, Shijiudun Village, and Yulinkou Village, the faults are not only distributed at the basin-mountain boundary, we have also found evidence of late Quaternary fault activity in the alluvial fans that is far away from the basin-mountain boundary. The overall strike of the fault is N78°E, but the strike gradually changes from ENE to NE, then to NWW from the west to the east, with dips ranging from 30° to 80°. 2)Based on field surveys of tectonic landforms and analysis of fault kinematics in outcrops, we have found that the sense of motion of the YTF changes along its strikes: the NEE and NE-striking segments are mainly normal dip-slip faults, while the left-laterally displaced gullies on the NWW segment and the occurrence characteristics of striations in the fault outcrop indicate that the NWW-striking segment is normal fault with minor sinistral strike-slip component. The sense of motion of the YTF determined by geologic and geomorphic evidences is consistent with the relationship between the regional NNW-SSE extension regime and the fault geometry. 3)By measuring and dating the displaced geologic markers and geomorphic surfaces, such as terraces and alluvial fans at three sites along the western segment of the YTF, we estimated that the fault slip rates are 0.12~0.20mm/a over the late Pleistocene. In order to compare the slip rate determined by geological method with extension rate constrained by geodetic measurement, the vertical slip rates were converted into horizontal slip rate using the dip angles of the fault planes measured in the field. At Zhuanlou Village, the T₂ terrace was vertically displaced for(2.5±0.4)m, the abandonment age of the T₂ was constrained to be(12.5±1.6)ka, so we determined a vertical slip rate of(0.2±0.04)mm/a using the deformed T₂ terrace and its OSL age. For a 50°dipping fault, it corresponds to extension rate of(0.17±0.03)mm/a. At Pingshan Village, the vertical displacement of the late Pleistocene alluvial fan is measured to be(5.38±0.83)m, the abandonment age of the alluvial fan is(29.7±2.5)ka, thus we estimated the vertical slip rate of the YTF to(0.18±0.02)mm/a. For a 65° dipping fault, it corresponds to an extension rate of(0.09±0.01)mm/a. Ultimately, the corresponding extensional rates were determined to be between 0.09mm/a and 0.17mm/a. Geological and geodetic researches have shown that the northern Shanxi Graben System are extending in NNW-SSE direction with slip rates of 1~2mm/a. Our data suggests that the YTF accounts for about 10% of the crustal extension rate in the northern Shanxi Graben System.     

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.     

THE ACTIVITY OF WESTERN LISHAN FAULT SINCE THE LATE PLEISTOCENE

Along the northern piedmont of Mt. Lishan, the characteristics and locations of the active normal Lishan fault in west of Huaqing Pool provide important evidences for determining the seismotectonic environment, seismic stability evaluation of engineering in the eastern Weihe Basin. After reviewing the results from high-density resistivity method, seismic profile data, geological drillhole section and trenching in west of the Huaqing Pool, it is found that the strike of western normal Lishan Fault changes from EW direction at the eastern part to the direction of N60°W, and the fault consists of two branches, dipping NE with a high dip angle of~75°. The artificial shallow seismic profile data reveals that the attitude of strata near Lishan Fault mainly dips to south, which is presumed to be related to the southward tilt movement of Mt. Lishan since the Cenozoic. The section of geological drillhole reveals that since the late middle Pleistocene, the displacement of the paleo-soil layer S₂ is about 10m. And the maximum displacement of western Lishan Fault recorded in the paleo-soil layer S₁ reaches 7.8m since the late Pleistocene. In addition, evidences from trench profile show that the western Lishan Fault was active at least 3 times since Malan loess deposition with ¹⁴ C dating age(32 170±530)Cal a BP. The multiple activities of the Lishan Fault result in a total displacement about 3.0m in the Malan loess layer L₁. The latest activity of the western Lishan Fault produced a displacement of about 0.9m in the early Holocene loess layer L₀((8 630±20)Cal a BP)and caused obvious tensile cracks in the Holocene dark leoss layer S₀((4 390±20)Cal a BP). Briefly, we have obtained a vertical movement rate of about 0.11~0.19mm/a since the Holocene((8 630±20)Cal a BP)in the western extension of the Lishan Fault, the recurrence interval of earthquakes on the fault is about(10.7±0.5)ka, and the co-seismic surface rupture in a single event is inferred to be about 0.9m.