THE RESPONSE OF FLUVIAL GEOMORPHOLOGIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FUJIANG DRAINGE BASIN TO ACTIVITY OF THE HUYA FAULT ZONE

The Huya Fault, located in the steep topographic boundary of the Minshan Mountains in the eastern margin of the Tibetan plateau, has documented many major earthquakes such as the 1630(M=6 3/4), 1973 Huanglong(M_S=6.5) and the 1976 Songpan-Pingwu earthquake swarm(M_S=7.2, 6.7, 7.2). While its activity remains unclear because of lacking Quaternary sediments. In the past few decades, there have been significant advances in understanding the relationship between bedrock channel landscapes and active tectonics, indicating that the bedrock fluvial features can well record the tectonic activity. Many studies reveal that tectonism is the primary factor of landscape evolution in tectonically active regions, and the erosional landscapes can be used to reveal tectonic signals on timescales of 10³~10⁶ years. The Huya Fault crosses the Fujiang drainage basin, making it suitable for the study of bedrock rivers and tectonic uplift in the eastern margin of Minshan. In this study, we calculate the geomorphologic indeices(hillslope, local relief, normalized steepness indices and hypsometric integral) on the basis of the digital elevation model(DEM) SRTM-1. For better understanding the tectonic activity along this fault, we derive some small catchments on the two sides of the Huya fault to analyze the differences of average steepness indices and hypsometric integral. Combining with field observations, lithology, precipitation and modern erosion rates, this study suggests that tectonic activity is the controlling factor of geomorphology in the eastern margin of the Minshan Mountains. We use focal mechanism solutions, GPS data and geomorphic evidence to explore the relationship between the geomorphologic indices of the Fujiang drainage and activity characteristics of the Huya fault. Our results suggest that:(1) The Fujiang drainage basin is in a steady state. The characteristics of the knickpoints indicate that they are mainly controlled by the locally resistant substrate. (2) The suggested value of the geomorphologic index on the west side of the Huya fault is generally larger than on the east side, showing differential tectonic uplift rates across the fault. (3) The difference of the geomorphologic index of the small catchments on both sides of the Huya fault is gradually increasing from north to south along this fault, in accordance with that the north and south segments of the Huya fault are dominated by strike-and reverse-slip, respectively.