THRUST OF THE SOUTHERN LONGMENSHAN FAULT IN THE LATE QUATERNARY REVEALED BY RIVER LANDFORMS

The Longmenshan fault zone is divided into three sections from south to north in the geometric structure. The middle and northern segments are mainly composed of three thrust faults, where the deformation of foreland is weak. The geometric structure of the southern segment is more complex, which is composed of six fault branches, where the foreland tectonic deformation is very strong. The Wenchuan M_S8.0 earthquake occurred in the middle of the Longmenshan in 2008, activating the bifurcation of two branches, the Yingxiu-Beichuan and the Guixian-Jiangyou faults. In 2013, the Lushan M_S7.0 earthquake occurred in the southern Longmenshan, whose seismogenic structure was considered to be a blind fault. After the Lushan earthquake, the seismic hazard in the southern Longmenshan has been widely concerned. At present, the studies on active tectonics in the southern Longmenshan are limited to the Dachuan-Shuangshi and the Yanjing-Wulong faults. The Qingyi River, which flows across the southern Longmenshan, facilitates to study fault slip by the deformation of river terraces. Based on satellite imagery and high-resolution DEM analysis, we measured the fluvial terraces along the Qingyi river in detail. During the measurement, the Sichuan network GPS system (SCGNSS)was employed to achieve a precision of centimeter grade. Besides, the optical luminescence dating (OSL)method was employed to date the terraces' ages. And the late Quaternary activities of the six branch faults in the southern Longmen Shan were further analyzed. The Gengda-Longdong, Yanjing-Wulong and the Xiao Guanzi faults (west branch of the Dachuan-Shuangshi fault)all show thrust slip and displaced the terrace T₂. Their average vertical slip rates in the late Quaternary are 0.21-0.30mm/a, 0.12-0.21mm/a and 0.10-0.12mm/a, respectively. Since the Late Quaternary, vertical slip of the east branch of the Dachuan-Shuangshi fault was not obvious, and the arc-like Jintang tectonic belt was not active. Crustal shortening rate of the southern Longmenshan thrust fault zone in the late Quaternary is 0.48-0.77mm/a, which equals about half of the middle segment of the Longmenshan. Based on the previous study on the tectonic deformation of the foreland, we consider that the foreland fold belt in the southern Longmenshan area has absorbed more than half of the crustal shortening. The three major branch faults in the southern Longmenshan are active in the late Quaternary, which have risk of major earthquakes.