Late Quaternary Large Earthquakes on the Western Branch of the Xiaojiang Fault and Their Tectonic Implications

The Xiaojiang fault is a major active left-lateral fault along the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau.The largest historical earthquake in Yunnan Province, with a magnitude 8 and a mean coseismic left-lateral displacement of ~ 6.9 m, occurred on the western branch of the Xiaojiang fault.Studying this fault is important in understanding current deformation and kinematic characteristics of the Tibetan Plateau.Activities and stretches have been well undertaken on the Xiaojiang fault, while paleoseismic research work is always the weak link on this fault.To investigate the paleoseismic history and large earthquake activity of the Xiaojiang fault, we opened a large trench at the northern edge of Caohaizi sag pond on the western branch of the Xiaojiang fault.Six paleoseismic events have been identified, and named E1 through E6 from the oldest to the youngest.Charcoal and woods are abundant, 20 samples were dated to constrain the ages of the paleoseismic events at 40 000–36 300 BC, 35 400–24 800 BC, 9 500 BC–AD 500, AD 390–720, AD 1120–1620 and AD 1750–present.We associate the youngest event E6 with the 1833 M8 earthquake.Events E4, E5 and E6 show a continuous record of the western strand of the Xiaojiang fault in the late Holocene, with a average recurrence interval of 370–480 yr.Large earthquake recurrence in the late Holocene is far less than the recurrence of 2000–4000 yr posed in previous studies.Thus, the seismic hazard on the Xiaojiang fault should be reevaluated.Furthermore, the irregular recurrence of large earthquakes on the Xiaojiang fault and other faults in the Xianshuihe-Xiaojiang system, indicates the uneven southeastward extrusion of the Sichuan-Yunnan block along the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau.

郯庐断裂带江苏段安丘-莒县断裂全新世活动及其构造意义

郯庐断裂带是中国东部重要的活动断裂带和边界构造带,其鲁苏段全新世活动断层的空间展布和古地震序列是地学关注的焦点问题,也是准确评价区域地震危险性的重要参数.以往研究工作多集中在郯庐断裂带地表地貌现象明显且有强震记录的山东段,而江苏段则研究程度相对较低,有关郯庐断裂带江苏段全新世活动断层范围和古地震序列问题存在争议.本文利用野外地质地貌调查、浅层地震勘探、钻孔联合剖面以及古地震探槽等多层次综合方法,重点开展郯庐断裂带江苏段全新世活动断层的分布和古地震序列研究.结果显示全新世时期,安丘-莒县断裂是郯庐断裂带江苏段的主要活动断层,且江苏全段该断层都是全新世活动断层.通过对比宿迁闸-皂河镇断裂南北安丘-莒县断裂的断层地貌和断层最新活动时间,并结合宿迁闸-皂河镇断裂在第四纪没有活动过等证据,推测该断层在全新世时期并不是区域阻碍破裂的断层.探槽揭示郯庐断裂带江苏段全新世两次古地震事件,事件Ⅰ限定在(6.2±0.3)-(13.4±0.7)ka B.P.之间,而事件Ⅱ限定在(2.5±0.1)ka B.P.到现今,全新世两次古地震间隔较长.基于构造类比法,安丘-莒县断裂具有深部孕震的构造特点,是区域未来强震的潜在发震构造.

郯庐断裂带安丘—莒县断裂南段(郯城—淮河)晚第四纪活动特征

通过系统的野外地质地貌调查、浅层地震勘探、钻孔联合剖面和古地震探槽等多方法手段,重点开展郯庐断裂带安丘—莒县断裂南段晚第四纪活动特征研究。结果显示安丘—莒县断裂南段在浅部由2支高倾角兼有挤压逆冲分量的断层组成,其中一支出露地表,以右旋走滑运动为主兼有逆冲分量,是全新世活动断层,而另一支为晚更新世活动断层。

郯庐断裂带江苏段东地堑边界断层第四纪活动性

郯庐断裂带东地堑边界断层在断裂带演化过程和现今构造格局中都是重要断层,对该边界断层的第四纪活动性研究有助于了解郯庐断裂带的演化历史和地震活动性,而有关该边界断层第四纪活动性研究较少且至今尚无定论。本文通过浅层地震勘探和钻孔联合剖面相结合的方法,针对郯庐断裂带江苏段东地堑两边界断层开展系统的断层第四纪活动性研究,结果显示,昌邑-大店断裂(F_1)第四纪以来未见构造运动证据,白芬子-浮来山断裂(F_2)在第四纪早期曾发生有关活动,晚更新世以来未见活动迹象。

Parameters of Coseismic Reverse- and Oblique-Slip Surface Ruptures of the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake,Eastern Tibetan Plateau

On May 12th, 2008, the Mw7.9 Wenchuan earthquake ruptured the Beichuan, Pengguan and Xiaoyudong faults simultaneously along the middle segment of the Longmenshan thrust belt at the eastern margin of the Tibetan plateau. Field investigations constrain the surface rupture pattern, length and offsets related to the Wenchuan earthquake. The Beichuan fault has a NE-trending rightlateral reverse rupture with a total length of 240 km. Reassessment yields a maximum vertical offset of 6.5±0.5 m and a maximum right-lateral offset of 4.9±0.5 m for its northern segment, which are the largest offsets found; the maximum vertical offset is 6.2±0.5 m for its southern segment. The Pengguan fault has a NE-trending pure reverse rupture about 72 km long with a maximum vertical offset of about 3.5 m. The Xiaoyudong fault has a NW-striking left-lateral reverse rupture about 7 km long between the Beichuan and Pengguan faults, with a maximum vertical offset of 3.4 m and left-lateral offset of 3.5 m. This pattern of multiple co-seismic surface ruptures is among the most complicated of recent great earthquakes and presents a much larger danger than if they ruptured individually. The rupture length is the longest for reverse faulting events ever reported.

Paleoseismological Study of the Late Quaternary Slip-rate along the South Barkol Basin Fault and Its Tectonic Implications,Eastern Tian Shan,Xinjiang

The easternmost Tian Shan lies in eastern Xinjiang, Central Asia. The South Barkol basin fault（SBF） in the northern part of the easternmost Tian Shan is a major tectonic structure in this orogenic region. The late Quaternary activity, paleoseismology, and deformation characteristics of the fault provide important clues for understanding the tectonic process of the eastern Tian Shan orogen and implementing seismic mitigation. Through interpretation of high-resolution satellite images, unmanned aerial vehicle measurements, and detailed geological and geomorphic investigations, we suggest that the fault exhibits clear left-lateral slip along its western segment. Paleoseismic trenches dug near Xiongkuer reveal evidence of six large paleoearthquakes. The four latest paleoearthquakes were dated： the oldest event occurred at 4663 BC–3839 BC. Data on the horizontal offsets along the probable 1842 Barkol earthquake coseismic rupture suggest clear multiple relationships between cumulative offsets and possible ~4 m of coseismic left-lateral slip per event. From the cumulative offsets and 14 C sample ages, we suggest an average Holocene left-lateral slip rate of 2.4–2.8 mm/a on the SBF, accounting for ~80% of lateral deformation within the entire eastern Tian Shan fault system. This result is comparable with the shortening rate of 2–4 mm/a in the whole eastern Tian Shan, indicating an equal role of strike-slip tectonics and compressional tectonics in this orogen, and that the SBF may accommodate substantial lateral tectonic deformation.

Late Quaternary surface deformation and rupture behavior of strong earthquake on the segment north of Mianning of the Anninghe fault

The Anninghe fault is an important active fault along the eastern boundary of Sichuan-Yunnan active tectonic block, and the study of its surface deformation and rupture behavior during strong earthquake in the late Quaternary is of fundamental importance for understanding the future seismic risk of the fault zone or even the entire western Sichuan region. Using the methods of detailed geomorphic and geological survey, digital image analysis, total station instrument survey, excavation of combined trench and dating, we analyze the geomorphologic sequences of the offset strata at several sites where the late Quaternary deformation remnants are fairly well preserved and obtain some new results as follows: Strong earthquake events with left-lateral displacements of about 3 m occurred at the two sites of Zimakua and Yejitong at 1634-1811, 1030-1050 and 280-550 a BP, respectively, and the recurrence interval is 520-660 a; The youngest event in the area of Dahaizi-Ganhaizi should be the earthquake of 1536, other events are at 1768-1826, 2755-4108 and 4108-6593 a BP, respectively, with a recurrence interval of 1300-1900 a. The strong earthquake activity shows a clustering character. The possibility of occurrence of a strong earthquake exists on the north segment of the Anninghe fault sometime in the future.

The Lushan M_S7.0 earthquake and activity of the southern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone

Following the Lushan MS7.0 earthquake on 20 April 2013,a topic of much concern is whether events of MS7 or greater could occur again on the southern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone.In providing evidence to answer this question,this work analyzes the tectonic relationship between the Lushan event and the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and the rupture history of the southern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone,through field investigations of active tectonics and paleoearthquake research,and our preliminary conclusions are as follows.The activity of the southern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone is much different to that of its central section,and the late Quaternary activity has propagated forward to the basin in the east.The seismogenic structure of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake is the central-fore-range fault system,whereas that of the 2013 Lushan event is attributed to the fore-range-range-front fault system,rather than the central fault.The southern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone becomes wider towards the south with an increasing number of secondary faults,of which the individual faults exhibit much weaker surface activity.Therefore,this section is not as capable of generating a major earthquake as is the central segment.It is most likely that the 2013 earthquake fills the seismic gap around Lushan on the southern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone.

The M_S7.1 Yushu earthquake surface rupture and large historical earthquakes on the Garzê-Yushu Fault

As revealed by field investigations,the co-seismic surface rupture zone of the 2010 MS7.1 Yushu earthquake,Qinghai is a characteristic sinistral strike-slip feature consisting of three distinct sinistral primary ruptures,with an overall strike of 310°-320° and a total length of 31 km.In addition,an approximately 2-km-long en-echelon tensile fissure zone was found east of Longbao Town;if this site is taken as the north end of the rupture zone,then the rupture had a total length of ～51 km.The surface rupture zone is composed of a series of fissures arranged in an en-echelon or alternating relationship between compressive bulges and tensile fissures,with a measured maximum horizontal displacement of 1.8 m.The surface rupture zone extends along the mapped Garzê-Yushu Fault,which implicates it as the seismogenic fault for this earthquake.Historically,a few earthquakes with a magnitude of about 7 have occurred along the fault,and additionally traces of paleoearthquakes are evident that characterize the short-period recurrence interval of large earthquakes here.Similar to the seismogenic process of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake,the Yushu earthquake is also due to the stress accumulation and release on the block boundaries resulting from the eastward expansion of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.However,in contrast with the Wenchuan earthquake,the Yushu earthquake had a sinistral strike-slip mechanism resulting from the uneven eastward extrusion of the Baryan Har and Sichuan-Yunnan fault blocks.

The maximum coseismic vertical surface displacement and surface deformation pattern accompanying the Ms 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake

The amount of coseismic deformation and its distribution of the Wenchuan earthquake provide important scientific bases for revealing the mechanisms of earthquake preparation and characterizing the rupture propagation of the Wenchuan earthquake. The previous studies have indicated that the earthquake ruptured the middle-to-north segment of the Longmenshan central fault and the middle segment of the Longmenshan range-front fault, which are characterized by two surface rupture zones of 240 km and 90 km in length, respectively. Based on the pre-earthquake information and photos of landforms and buildings obtained through ge-ologic and geomorphic survey of the area around Shaba Village of Beichuan County, Sichuan Province and the extensive interview with local villagers, we measured the displacements of the major terrain features and the dislocated buildings by total station instruments and differential GPS and obtained the maximum vertical displacement of 9±0.5 m and right-lateral displacement of 2±0.5 m around the Zou’s house in Shaba Village. Though the near-surface deformation exhibits a normal faulting around Shaba Village, the dynamic environment has not changed on the whole. The NW wall of the fault uplifted but without gravity gliding as normally occurring on the hanging wall of a normal fault, which proves that the 9±0.5 m displacement should be the maximum coseismic vertical displacement of the May 12, 2008 Ms 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake.

Measurement of terrace deformation and crustal shortening of some renascent fold zones within Kalpin nappe structure

The Kalpin nappe structure is a strongest thrust and fold deformation belt in front of the Tianshan Mountains since the Cenozoic time. The tectonic deformation occurred in 5―6 striking Meso-zoic-Cenozoic fold zones, and some renascent folds formed on the recent alluvial-proluvial fans in front of the folded mountains. We used the total station to measure gully terraces along the longitudinal to-pographic profile in the renascent fold zones and collected samples from terrace deposits for age de-termination. Using the obtained formation time and shortening amount of the deformed terraces, we calculated the shortening rate of 4 renascent folds to be 0.1±0.03 mm/a, 0.12±0.04 mm/a, 0.59±0.18 mm/a, and 0.26±0.08 mm/a, respectively. The formation time of the renascent folds is some later than the major tectonic uplift event of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau 0.14 Ma ago. It may be the long-distance effect of this tectonic event on the Tianshan piedmont fold belt.

Paleoseismic ruptures and evolution of a small triangular pull-apart basin on the Zemuhe fault

Trenching is a primary technique on paleoseismology to reveal evidence of surface deformation produced by large earthquakes.A good trenching site requires completeness of geologic recording on paleoseismic events and corresponding reliable dating from radiocarbon samples.Based on three-dimension trenching,we show a structure of a small triangular pull-apart basin at the Daqingliangzi section on the Zemuhe fault,then explore interrelation between paleoseismic surface rupturing and evolution of the pull-apart basin,and give a corresponding identification model.Sedimentary boundary of the pull-apart basin is tightly bounded by two branch faults,which produced multiple paleoseismic events with deformation of some large fissures in sequence.Strata are thinner at north of the pull-apart basin,however thicker at south.These above characteristics show that evolution of the pull-apart basin is a continuous sedimentation process accompanying extensional deformation produced by multiple paleoseismic events.Small pull-apart basins are favorable sites for trenching and paleoseismic study on active strike-slip faults.