Paleoseismic activity on Wujiahe segment of Serteng piedmont fault,inner Mongolia

Geomorphic study on Wjiahe segment of Serteng piedmont fault,Inner Mongolia is made.Throuth analysis of the available data in combination with the results of predecessors‘studies it can be obtained that average vertical displacement rate is 0.48-0.75mm/a along the Wujiahe segment since the late Pleistocene(14.450-22.340ka BP)and 0.56-0.88mm/s since the early-middle Holocene(5.570-8.830ka BP).Analyzing paleoseismic phenomena revealed in the excavated 5trenches in combination with the results of predecessors‘studies of paleoearthquakes on the fault,we determine five paleoseismic events on the Wujiahe segment of Serteng piedmont fault since 27.0ka BP and the recurrence interval to be about 4.300-4.400ka,A cluster of paleoearthquakes occurred probably during 8.000-9.000ka BP and two paleoeismic events in 10.000-20.000ka BP may be missed.A comparison between height of fault scarps and sum of displacement caused by paleoseismic events revealed in trenches,and recurrence interval of paleoseismic events obtained from average displacement rate along the fault and the disloca-tion by one event suggest that three paleoseismic events are absent in Alagaitu trench.Two paleoseismic events may be absent on the whole active fault segment.     

STUDY ON PALEOEARTHQUKES ALONG THE FODONGMIAO-HONGYAZI FAULT,GANSU PROVINCE

The Fodongmiao-Hongyazi Fault is a Holocene active thrust fault, belonging to the middle segment of northern Qilianshan overthrust fault zone, located in the northeastern edge of the Tibet plateau. The Hongyapu M7(1/4) earthquake in 1609 AD occurred on it. A few paleo-seismology studies were carried out on this fault zone. It was considered that four paleoearthquakes occurred on the Fodongmiao-Hongyazi Fault between(6.3±0.6) ka BP and(7.4±0.4) ka BP, in(4.3±0.3) ka BP, in(2.1±0.1) ka BP and in 1609 AD. The occurrences of the earthquakes suggested the quasi-periodic characteristic with a quasi-periodic recurrence interval between 1 600~2 500a(Institute of Geology, State Seismological Bureau, Lanzhou Institute of Seismology, State Seismological Bureau. 1993; Liu et al., 2014). There was no direct evidence for the Hongyapu M7(1/4) earthquake in 1609 AD from trench research in the previous studies. Great uncertainty exists because of the small number of the chronology data, as a few TL and OSL measurement data and several¹⁴ C data, and it was insufficient to deduce the exact recurrence interval for the paleoearthquakes. Five trenches were excavated and cleared up respectively in the eastern segment, middle segment and western segment along the Fodongmiao-Hongyazi Fault. After detail study on the trench profiles, the sedimentary characteristics, sequence relationship of the stratigraphical units, and fault-cuts in different stratigraphical units were revealed in these five trenches. Four paleoearthquakes in Holocene were distinguished from the five trenches, and geology evidences of the Hongyapu M7(1/4) earthquake in 1609 AD were also found. More accurate constraint of the occurring time of the paleo-earthquakes since Holocene on the Fodongmiao-Hongyazi Fault is provided by the progressive constraining method(Mao and Zhang, 1995), according to amounts of ¹⁴ C measurement data and OLS measurement data of the chronology samples from different stratigraphical units in the trenches. The first paleoevent, E4 occurred 10.6ka BP. The next event, E3 occurred about 7.1ka BP. The E2 occurred about 3.4ka BP. The last event, E1 is the Hongyapu M7(1/4) earthquake in 1609 AD. Abounds of proofs for the occurrences of the events of E1, E2 and E3 were found in the trench Tc1, trench Tc2, trench Tc4 and trench Tc3, located in the eastern, middle and western segments of the Fodongmiao-Hongyazi Fault accordingly. It's considered that the events E1, E2 and E3 may cause whole segment rupturing according to the proofs for these three events found together in individual trenches. The event E4 was only found in the trench Tc5 profile in the west of the Xiaoquan village in the eastern segment of the Fodongmiao-Hongyazi Fault. The earthquake rupture characteristics of this event can't be revealed before more detailed subsequent research. The time intervals among the four paleoearthquakes are ca 3.5ka, ca 3.7ka, and ca 3.0ka. The four events are characterized by ca 3.4ka quasi-periodic recurrence interval.     

STUDY ON PALEOEARTHQUAKES ALONG THE JINGHE SECTION OF BOLOKENU-AQIKEKUDUKE FAULT

The Bolokenu-Aqikekuduk fault zone(B-A Fault)is a 1 000km long right-lateral strike-slip active fault in the Tianshan Mountains. Its late Quaternary activity characteristics are helpful to understand the role of active strike-slip faults in regional compressional strain distribution and orogenic processes in the continental compression environment, as well as seismic hazard assessment. In this paper, research on the paleoearthquakes is carried out by remote sensing image interpretation, field investigation, trench excavation and Quaternary dating in the Jinghe section of B-A Fault. In this paper, two trenches were excavated on in the pluvial fans of Fan2b in the bulge and Fan3a in the fault scarp. The markers such as different strata, cracks and colluvial wedges in the trenches are identified and the age of sedimentation is determined by means of OSL dating for different strata. Four most recent paleoearthquakes on the B-A Fault are revealed in trench TC1 and three most recent paleoearthquakes are revealed in trench TC2. Only the latest event was constrained by the OSL age among the three events revealed in the trench TC2. Therefore, when establishing the recurrence of the paleoearthquakes, we mainly rely on the paleoearthquake events in trench TC1, which are labeled E1-E4 from oldest to youngest, and their dates are constrained to the following time ranges: E1(19.4±2.5)~(19.0±2.5)ka BP, E2(18.6±1.4)~(17.3±1.4)ka BP, E3(12.2±1.2)~(6.6±0.8)ka BP, and E4 6.9~6.2ka BP, respectively. The earthquake recurrence intervals are(1.2±0.5)ka, (8.7±3.0)ka and(2.8±3)ka, respectively. According to the sedimentation rate of the stratum, it can be judged that there is a sedimentary discontinuity between the paleoearthquakes E2 and E3, and the paleoearthquake events between E2 and E3 may not be recorded by the stratum. Ignoring the sedimentary discontinuous strata and the earthquakes occurring during the sedimentary discontinuity, the earthquake recurrence interval of the Jinghe section of B-A Fault is ~1~3ka. This is consistent with the earthquake recurrence interval(~2ka)calculated from the slip rate and the minimum displacement. The elapsed time of the latest paleoearthquake recorded in the trench is ~6.9~6.2ka BP. The magnitude of the latest event defined by the single event displacement on the fault is ~M_W7.4, and a longer earthquake elapsed time indicates the higher seismic risk of the B-A Fault.     

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.     

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.     

ACTIVITY FEATURES OF FAULTS AT THE EAST OF ZHANGSHAN ON THE MIDDLE SEGMENT OF TANLU FAULT ZONE

Given the scarcity of research on the activity of Xinyi-Sihong segment of the Tanlu Fault zone, this paper focuses on the Zhangshan segment where there are quite evident geomorphic features to complement the shortage of the research on the northern part of Xinyi-Sihong segment. This study enriches evidences for the late Quaternary activity and paleoseismological events on the Xinyi-Sihong segment. The Zhangshan segment is located at Xiaodian Town to Jintou Village of Suqian City, stretching towards NE for 7 kilometers with a dip angle of 60~80. Research of tectonic geomorphology shows that gullies in northern part of Zhangshan segment were evidently displaced, while in the southern, two NE-trending right-stepped fault scarps are developed, with an average height of 3 meters, which generally suggests that the fault was dominated by thrust and dextral motion. Two trenches were excavated in the southern part of Zhangshan segment, numbered Mayao trench 1 and Mayao trench 2. Both trenches reveal that:(1)within this segment, Tanlu Fault shows periodic fault activity, that is, normal faulting during Pliocene epoch while thrust faulting in Quaternary period; (2)an event occurred between 15.12ka BP to 11.82 BP; (3)the latest event possibly took place around 3 500 a BP. Based on integrated results of previous studies, we identify the dates of paleoseismic events on the Xinyi-Sihong segment as follows:more than 960 thousands years ago, early to middle period of late Pleistocene, (15.12~11.82)ka BP, (11.76±0.05)ka~(10.53±0.05)ka BP, (10.15±0.05)ka~(8.16±0.05)ka BP and 4 960~3 510a BP.     

NEW EVIDENCES OF HOLOCENE ACTIVITY IN THE JIANGSU SEGMENT OF ANQIU-JUXIAN FAULT OF THE TANLU FAULT ZONE

Anqiu-Juxian Fault is an important fault in the Tanlu fault zone, with the largest seismic risk, the most recent activity date and the most obvious surface traces. It is also the seismogenic fault of the Tancheng M8 1/2 earthquake in 1668. There are many different views about the southern termination location of surface rupture of the Tancheng earthquake and the Holocene activity in Jiangsu segment of this fault. Research on the latest activity time of the Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault, particularly the termination location of surface rupture of the Tancheng earthquake, is of great significance to the assessment of its earthquake potential and seismic risk. Based on trench excavation on the Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault, we discuss the time and characteristics of its latest activity. Multiple geological sections from southern Maling Mountain to Chonggang Mountain indicate that there was an ancient seismic event occurring in Holocene on the Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault. We suggest the time of the latest seismic event is about(4.853±0.012)~(2.92±0.3)ka BP by dating results. The latest activity is characterized by thrust strike-slip faulting, with the maximum displacement of 1m. Combined with the fault rupture characteristics of each section, it is inferred that only one large-scale paleo-earthquake event occurred on the Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault since the Holocene. The upper parts of the fault are covered by horizontal sand layers, not only on the trench in the west of Chonggang mountain but also on the trench in Hehuan Road in Suqian city, which indicates that the main part of the Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault was probably not the surface rupture zone of the 1668 Tancheng M8 1/2 earthquake. In short, the Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault has experienced many paleo-earthquake events since the late Pleistocene, with obvious activity during the Holocene. The seismic activities of the Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault have the characteristics of large magnitude and low frequency. The Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault has the deep tectonic and seismic-geological backgrounds of big earthquakes generation and should be highly valued by scientists.     

龙首山北缘断裂带古地震初步探讨

龙首山北缘断裂带是潮水盆地与龙首山地的地貌分界线,展布于龙首山隆起的北麓。前期曾在龙首山北缘断裂带东段的白家嘴、中段包代河、西段斜坡山开挖了三个探槽,均揭露出多期古地震。本文通过三个探槽古地震事件的对比分析认为,龙首山北缘断裂带第1次古地震(11 ka)到最后1次古地震(1.6 ka)间隔9.4 ka,约1万年时间里有6次古地震发生。如果取算术平均(9.4 ka/6=1.57 ka),则每隔1 500年左右,龙首山北缘断裂带就有一次强地震事件,即古地震平均重复间隔约1.57 ka。这和其它各大断裂带得出的古地震优势重现周期(1~2 ka)并不矛盾。①5 ka年以前龙首山北缘断裂带仅有2次古地震事件,重复间隔5.3 ka,明显偏长,可能有古地震的遗漏问题;②5 ka年以后该断裂地震活动明显丛集,最短间隔0.7 ka,最长间隔1.5 ka,平均重复间隔约0.8 ka。无论是最短、最长或平均重复间隔,均与山丹-张掖地区历史地震的最长重复间隔0.79 ka接近。     

DISCUSSION ON THE TIMING AND ITS TECTONIC SIGNIFICANCE OF ANGULAR UNCONFORMITY IN HETAO BASIN IN THE LATE QUATERNARY SEDIMENTS

The interaction between the continental-continental collision of the Indian-Eurasian plate and the westward underthrusting of Pacific plate is generally considered to be the cause of the destruction of North China Craton. At present, there are still doubts in the researches worldwide about the dynamic mechanism of the formation and evolution of the Ordos peripheral fault-depression system and the contemporary tectonic stress field.
The Hetao Basin is a Cenozoic fault basin located between the Ordos block and the Yinshan Mountains. Due to the effect of uplift of the Tibet Plateau and the continuous subduction of the Pacific plate, graben faulting of different intensities occurred in different periods of Cenozoic around the Ordos block. Late Quaternary lacustrine facies sedimentary strata are widely developed in Hetao Basin. The Haolaigou profile, Bianqianhao profile and the Langshan profile in this study are all located in Hetao Basin. According to the lithology and structural analysis of the upper Pleistocene series in the three profiles, angular unconformities of phase 1-2 are recorded in the lacustrine facies sediments with a thickness of about 10m. The dating results of the Haolaigou profile, Bianqianhao profile and Langshan profile show that the formation time of both unconformities is 80ka BP.
Using the tectonic geology, Quaternary geology, stratigraphy, sedimentology and a variety of dating methods, we also carry out a comprehensive study and obtain the following results:
(1)The analysis of lithological and structural features of Haolaigou profile, Bianqianghao profile and Langshan profile in the Hetao Basin shows that multi-phase angular unconformities events are recorded in the lacustrine strata of a thickness of nearly 10m. These unconformities represent the tectonic movement in the late Pleistocene period since the 80ka BP and they may be widely distributed in the North China region. They are probably the direct products of the latest tectonic movement in the Quaternary period.
(2)The present tectonic movement initiates at about 80ka BP. It not only causes multiple angular unconformity events, but also leads to the disappearance of the Hetao ancient lake. The rapid regional epeirogenetic uplifting of the Ordos block since 76.4ka BP should also be the specific manifestation of this tectonic movement. Because of the influence of the accelerated uplifting and eastward spreading of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau in the late Quaternary, the NEE thrusting effect of the Ordos block is enhanced and affected.     

香山-天景山断裂活动时代的光释光测年

在青藏高原东北隅发育一系列向北东凸出的弧形断裂带．其中最主要的三条断裂带从北到南分别为牛首山-罗山断裂带、香山-天景山断裂带和天祝一海原断裂带。香山-天景山断裂带从上世新以来一直有过活动,并在1709年发生了中卫南7t／2级地震。近期,宁夏地震局在孟家湾村南开挖了一个探槽．揭露出石炭纪的煤系地层逆冲于晚更新世风成沙之上．根据风成沙光释光测年结果表明。此探槽显示的断裂活动时代在距今约26．14±1．08ka．极有可能为22．09±0．4ka与26．14±1．08ka之间．     

PALEOSEISMOLOGY ON THE YEMAHE SEGMENT OF THE YEMAHE-DAXUESHAN FAULT REVEALED BY TRENCH STUDY

A series of NWW striking faults are obliquely intersected by the NEE striking Altyn Tagh fault zone in the western Qilian Mountains. These faults were mostly active in late Quaternary and play an important role in accommodating regional lateral extrusion by both reverse and sinistral slip. Detailed studies on late Quaternary activity, tectonic transformation, paleoseismology, and strain partitioning not only significantly affect our recognition on seismogenic mechanism and zones of potential large earthquakes, but also provide useful information for exploring tectonic deformation mechanism in the northern Tibetan plateau. The Danghenanshan Fault, Yemahe-Daxueshan fault, and Altyn Tagh Fault form a triplet junction point at southwest of Subei county. The Yemahe-Daxueshan fault is one important branch fault in the western Qilian Mountains that accommodated eastward decreasing slip of the Altyn Tagh Fault, which was active in late Holocene, with a length up to 170km. Based on geometry and late Quaternary activity, the Yemahe-Daxueshan fault was subdivided into 3 segments, i.e. the Subei fault, Yemahe fault and Daxueshan Fault. The Yemahe Fault has the most prominent appearance among them, and is dominated by left-lateral slip with a little normal component. The heights of fresh scarps on this fault are only several tens of centimeters. We dug 2 trenches at the Zhazhihu site, and cleaned and reinterpreted one trench of previous studies. Then we interpreted trench profiles and paleoseismic events, and collected ¹⁴C and Optical Stimulated Luminescence samples to constrain event ages. Finally, we determined 3 events on the Yemahe fault with ages(6 830±30) a BP-(6 280±40) a BP, (5 220±30) a BP, (2 010±30) a BP, respectively. The elapsed time of most recent earthquake is(2 010±30) years before present, which is very close to the recurrence interval, so the possibility of major earthquakes on the Yemahe fault is relatively large.     

LATE QUATERNARY ACTIVITY OF FAULTS IN THE EPICENTER AREA OF JINGGU M6.6 EARTHQUAKE

The 2014 Jinggu M6.6 earthquake attacked the Jinggu area where few historical earthquakes had occurred and little study has been conducted on active tectonics. The lack of detailed field investigation on active faults and seismicity restricts the assessment of seismic risk of this area and leads to divergent view points with respect to the seismotectonics of this earthquake, so relevant research needs to be strengthened urgently. In particular, some studies suggest that this earthquake triggered the activity of the NE-trending faults which have not yet been studied. By the approaches of remote sensing image interpretation, structural geomorphology investigation and trench excavation, we studied the late Quaternary activity of the faults in the epicenter area, which are the eastern margin fault of Yongping Basin and the Yixiang-Zhaojiacun Fault, and drew the conclusions as follows: (1)The eastern margin fault of Yongping Basin originates around the Naguai village in the southeastern margin of Yongping Basin,extending northward across the Qiandong, Tianfang, and ending in the north of Tiantou. The fault is about 43km long, striking near SN. The linear characteristic of the fault is obvious in remote sensing images. Structural geomorphological phenomena, such as fault troughs, linear ridges and gully dislocations, have developed along the faults. There are several dextral-dislocated gullies near Naguai village, with displacements of 300m, 220m, 146m, 120m and 73m, respectively, indicating that the fault is a dextral strike-slip fault with long-term activity. In order to further study the activity of the fault, a trench was excavated in the fault trough, the Naguai trench. The trench reveals many faults, and the youngest strata offseted by the faults are Holocene, with ¹⁴C ages of(1 197±51)a and(1 900±35)a, respectively. All those suggest that it is a Holocene active fault. (2)The Yixiang-Zhaojiacun Fault starts at the southeast of the Jinggu Basin, passes through Xiangyan, Yixiang, Chahe, and terminates at the Zhaojiacun. The total length of the fault is about 60km, and is a large-scale NE-trending fault in the Wuliangshan fault zone. Four gullies are synchronously sinistrally dislocated at Yixiang village, with the displacements of 340m, 260m, 240m and 240m, indicating that the fault is a long-term active sinistral strike-slip fault. A trench was excavated in a fault trough in Yixiang village. The trench reveals a small sag pond and a fault. The fault offsets several strata with clear dislocation and linear characteristic. The thickness of strata between the two walls of fault does not match, and the gravels are oriented along fault plane. The offset strata have the ¹⁴C age of(2 296±56)a, (3 009±51)a, and(4 924±45)a, respectively, and another two strata have the OSL age of(1.8±0.1)ka, (8.6±0.5)ka respectively, by which we constrained the latest paleoearthquake between(1.8±0.1)ka(OSL-Y01)and(378±48)a BP(CY-07). This again provides further evidence that the fault is a Holocene fault with long-term activity. (3)Based on the distribution of aftershocks and the predecessor research results, the 2014 Jinggu M6.6 earthquake and the M5.8, M5.9 strong aftershocks are regarded as being caused by the eastern margin fault of Yongping Basin, which is part of the Wuliangshan fault zone. The seismogenic mechanism is that the stress has been locked, concentrated and accumulated to give rise to the quakes in the wedge-shaped area near the intersection of the SN and NE striking faults, which is similar to the seismogenic mechanism in the southwest of Yunnan Province.     

PALEOSEIMOLOGY AND LATE QUATERNARY SLIP RATE OF THE YOUSHASHAN FAULT AT SOUTHWESTERN MARGIN OF QAIDAM BASIN

The Youshashan Fault lies in the south flank of Yingxiongling anticline, southwestern margin of Qaidam Basin. The Yingxiongling anticline is one of the most active neotectonics, situated at the front of folds expanding southward in the Qaidam Basin. Research on the paleoseimology and Late Quaternary slip rate of this fault is important for hazard assessment and understanding tectonic deformation in this area. We excavated a 27-m-long trench across the Youshashan fault where a pressure bridge formed on the Holocene alluvial fans, measured a profile of the fold scarp created by the fault west of the Youshashan mountain, and collected several samples of finer sands for luminescence dating. Analysis of these data shows that(1) The Youshashan Fault is a Holocene active feature. The fold scarp in the basin indicates that this fault has been active along a same surface trace since at least mid-late Pleistocene. At least two paleoseismic events are revealed by trenching, both occurred in Holocene. The latest event Ⅱ in the trench happened after 500a. The current information fails to confidently support that it is the 1977 Mangya M6.4 earthquake, but cannot excludes the possibility of it is related to this earthquake. The other event Ⅰ occurred about between 1 000a to 4 000a. Erosion after the event Ⅰ prevents us to constrain the event age and to identify more events further. (2)The vertical slip rate of the Youshashan fault is about(0.38±0.06)mm/a since mid-late Pleistocene. Comparing with relative speeds of GPS sites across the Yingxiongling anticline suggests that the Youshashan fault is an important structure which is accommodating crustal shortening in this region.     

THE SLIP RATE AND PALEOEARTHQUAKES OF THE YUMEN FAULT IN THE NORTHERN QILIAN MOUNTAINS SINCE THE LATE PLEISTOCENE

The Yumen Fault lies on the west segment of the north Qilian Fault belt and adjacent to the Altyn-Tagh Fault,in the north margin of the Tibet Plateau.The tectonic location of the Yumen fault is special,and the fault is the evidence of recent activity of the northward growth of Tibetan plateau.In recent twenty years,many researches show the activity of the Yumen Fault became stronger from the early Pleistocene to the Holocene.Because the Yumen Fault is a new active fault and fold belt in the Qilian orogenic belt in the north margin of the Tibet Plateau,it is important to ascertain its slip rate and the recurrence interval of paleoearthquakes since the Late Pleistocene.Using the satellite image interpretation of the Beida river terrace,the GPS measurement of alluvial fans in front of the Yumen Fault and the trench excavation on the fault scarps,two conclusions are obtained in this paper.(1) The vertical slip rate of the Yumen Fault is about 0.41~0.48mm/a in the Holocene and about 0.24~0.30mm/a in the last stage of the late Pleistocene.(2) Since the Holocene epoch,four paleoearthquakes,which happened respectively in 6.12~10.53ka,3.6~5.38ka,1.64~1.93ka and 0.63~1.64ka,ruptured the surface scarps of the Yumen Fault.Overall,the recurrence interval of the paleoseismic events shortens gradually and the activity of the Yumen Fault becomes stronger since the Holocene.Anther characteristic is that every paleoearthquake probably ruptured multiple fault scarps at the same time.     

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.     

祁连山北缘玉门—北大河断裂东段古地震特征

玉门—北大河断裂是酒西盆地南侧的一条重要的活动断裂, 断裂西起青草湾, 向东经老玉门市、 青头山、 大红泉, 止于北大河以东骨头泉一带, 长约80 km, 走向北西西, 倾向南, 倾角20°~60°。 玉门—北大河断裂为一条全新世活动的逆冲断裂, 断裂东段保留了地震破裂带遗迹, 通过野外断错地貌调查和探槽开挖, 揭示该破裂带形成于距今1.7±0.3 ka, 此前断裂在4.1±0.3~5.4±0.3 ka及8.4±1.0 ka还有过2次古地震事件, 利用经验公式和已有震例估算, 每次地震震级约为M7。     

PALEOSEISMIC EVENTS IN BANGUOBA TRENCH ALONG AKSAY SEGMENT OF THE ALTYN TAGH FAULT ZONE

As the boundary between the northern edge of the Tibetan plateau and the Tarim Basin, the active left-lateral strike-slip Altyn Tagh Fault (ATF) is a first-order structure accommodating the ongoing continental collision between India and Asia and extends from northwestern Tibet to eastern Gansu Province with a whole length of ~1 600km. It is regarded as one of the most active fault in Euro-Asia block and has been segmented eleven rupture segments. This study utilizes the high-resolution image data (Google Earth) in combination with detailed field investigation on the Aksay segment of the ATF to scan the gully offset by Trimble VX, which suggests that the latest earthquake offset is 6~7m. Through trenching and radiocarbon dating of charcoal samples, paleoseismic events of this segment are analyzed. The trench has revealed many different deformed and dislocated strata, which display four paleoseismic events. Combined with the previous research and using the progressive constraining method, we constrained the paleoseismic events in this segment, and the results suggest that the penultimate and the most recent event occurred~1180a BP and 507~230a BP, respectively.     

THE QUANTATIVE STUDY ON ACTIVITY OF DENGDENGSHAN-CHIJIACIWO FAULTS SINCE LATE QUATERNARY

The Dengdengshan and Chijiaciwo faults situate in the northeast flank of Kuantanshan uplift at the eastern terminal of Altyn Tagh fault zone, striking northwest as a whole and extending 19 kilometers and 6.5 kilometers for the Dengdengshan and Chijiaciwo Fault, respectively. Based on satellite image interpretation, trenching, faulted geomorphology surveying and samples dating etc., we researched the new active characteristics of the faults. Three-levels of geomorphic surfaces, i.e. the erosion rock platform, terrace I and terrace Ⅱ, could be found in the northeast side of Kuantanshan Mountain. The Dengdengshan Fault dislocated all geomorphic surfaces except terrace I, and the general height of scarp is about 1.5 meters, with the maximum reaching 2.6 meters. Three paleoseismic events are determined since late Pleistocene through trenching, and the total displacement of three events is about 2.7 meters, the average vertical dislocation of each event changed from 0.5 to 1.2 meters. By collecting age samples and dating, the event Ⅰ occurred about 5ka BP, event Ⅱ occurred about 20ka BP, and event Ⅲ occurred about 35ka BP. The recurrence interval is about 15ka BP; and the vertical slip rate since the late Pleistocene is about 0.04mm/a. The Chijiaciwo Fault, however, dislocated all three geomorphic surfaces, and the general scarp height is about 2.0 meters with the maximum up to 4.0 meters. Three paleoseismic events are determined since late Pleistocene through trenching, and the total displacement of three events is about 3.25 meters, the average vertical dislocation of each event changed from 0.75 to 1.5 meters, and the vertical slip rate since the late Pleistocene is about 0.06mm/a. Although the age constraint of paleoearthquakes on Chijiaciwo Fault is not as good as that of Dengdengshan Fault, the latest event on Chijiaciwo Fault is later than Dengdengshan Fault's. Furthermore, we infer that the recurrence interval of Chijiaciwo Fault is 15ka BP, which is close to that of Dengdengshan Fault. The latest event on Chijiaciwo Fault is later than the Dengdengshan Fault's, and the vertical displacement and the slip rate of a single event in late Quaternary are both larger than that of Dengdengshan Fault. Additionally, a 5-kilometer-long discontinuity segment exists between these two faults and is covered by Quaternary alluvial sand gravel. All these indicate that the activity of the Chijiaciwo Fault and Dengdengshan Fault has obvious segmentation feature. The size of Chijiaciwo Fault and Dengdengshan Fault are small, and the vertical slip rate of 0.04~0.06mm/a is far smaller than that of Qilianshan Fault and the NW-striking faults in Jiuxi Basin. All these indeicate that the tectonic deformation of this region is mainly concentrated on Hexi Corrider and the interior of Tibet Plateau, while the activties of Chijiaciwo and Dengdengshan faults are characterized by slow slip rate, long recurrence interval(more than 10ka)and slow tectonic deformation.     

Surface-rupturing history of the Bree fault scarp, Roer Valley graben: Evidence for six events since the late Pleistocene

Since 1996 paleoseismological investigations have been used to develop the surface- rupturing history of the Bree fault scarp, the morphologically best-defined segment of the southwestern border fault of the Roer Valley graben in northeastern Belgium. The first studies determined that the escarpment is associated with a surface fault, and they exposed evidence for three surface displacements since about 40 ka BP. The most recent eventprobably occurred between 1000 and 1350 yr cal BP. Geophysical and trenching studies at a new site near the southeastern end of the fault scarp reconfirmed the coincidence of the frontal escarpment with a shallow normal fault, which displaces the Middle Pleistocene `Main Terrace' of the Maas River, as well as overlying coversands of Saalian to late Weichselian age. Different amounts of displacement shown by the two youngest coversand units indicate two discrete faulting events, but primary evidence for the coseismic nature of these events is sparse. Radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating constrainthe age of these events to the Holocene and between 14.0 ± 2.3 ka BP and 15.8 ± 2.9 ka BP, respectively. In addition, four older surface-rupturing events are inferred from the presence of four wedge-shaped units of reworked Main Terrace deposits that are interbedded with coversand units in the hanging wall of the trench and in shallow boreholes. These wedges are interpreted as colluvial wedges, produced by accelerated slope processes in response torejuvenation of the fault scarp, most probably in a periglacial environment. Luminescence dating indicates that five out of a total of six identified faulting events are younger than 136.6 ± 17.6 ka. The antepenultimate event was the largest faulting event, associated with a total fault displacement in excess of 1 m. Thus, the newly investigated trench site represents the longest and most complete record of surface rupturing recovered so far along the Bree fault scarp. This study also demonstrates the viability of the paleoseismological approach to identify past large earthquakes in areas of present-day moderate to low seismic activity.