Three magnitude 〉6 earthquakes struck Qaidam, Qinghai province, China, in November 10th 2008, August 28th and 31st 2009 respectively. The Zongwulongshan fault has often been designated as the active seismogenic struc...Three magnitude 〉6 earthquakes struck Qaidam, Qinghai province, China, in November 10th 2008, August 28th and 31st 2009 respectively. The Zongwulongshan fault has often been designated as the active seismogenic structure, although it is at odd with the data. Our continuous GPS station （CGPS）, the Xiao Qaidam station, located in the north of the Qaidam basin, is less than 30 km to the southwest of the 2008 earthquake. This CGPS station recorded the near field co-seismic deformation. Here we analyzed the co-seismic dislocation based on the GPS time series and the rupture processes from focal mechanism for the three earthquakes. The afiershocks were relocated to constrain the spatial characteristics of the 2008 and 2009 Qaidam earthquakes. Field geological and geomorphological investigation and interpretation of satellite images show that the Xitieshan fault and Zongwulongshan fault were activated as left lateral thrust during the late Quaternary. Evidence of folding can also be identified. Integrated analyses based on our data and the regional tectonic environment show that the Xitieshan fault is the fault responsible for the 2008 Qaidam earthquake, which is a low dip angle thrust with left lateral strike slip. The Zongwulongshan fault is the seismogenic fault of the 2009 earthquakes, which is a south dipping back thrust of the northern marginal thrust system of the Qaidam basin. Folding takes a significant part of the deformation in the northern marginal thrust system of the Qaidam basin, dominating the contemporary structure style of the northern margin of the Qaidam basin and Qilianshan tectonic system. In this region, this fault and fold system dominates the earthquake activities with frequent small magnitude earthquakes.展开更多
The post-earthquake field investigations reveal that the MW7.9 Wenchuan earthquake of 12th May 2008 ruptured three NE-striking imbricate reverse faults and another NW-trending reverse fault, along the middle Longmensh...The post-earthquake field investigations reveal that the MW7.9 Wenchuan earthquake of 12th May 2008 ruptured three NE-striking imbricate reverse faults and another NW-trending reverse fault, along the middle Longmenshan fold-and-thrust belt at the eastern margin of the Tibetan plateau. The fault-scarp features can be categorized into eight groups: simple thrust scarp, hanging-wall collapse scarp, simple pressure ridge, dextral pressure ridge, fault-related fold scarp, back-thrust pressure ridge, local normal fault scarp and crocodile-mouth-like scarp. The local normal scarp is first discovered in the reverse-faulting earthquakes as ever reported in the world. Field observation indicates that the Wenchuan earthquake surface rupture is dominated by reverse faulting with a minus right-lateral component, but the relative ratio varies from site to site. Also, the surface ruptures can be divided, for the first order, into two segments, the Yingxiu and Beichuan segments, corresponding to MW7.8 and MW7.57 events, respectively. The two segments further can be divided, for the second order, into four sub-segments in total, which are equivalent to four sub-events of MW7.46, MW7.69, MW6.99 and MW7.52, respectively. The fault segmentation, for different orders, shows a cascade-rupturing pattern and can explain why the quake time of the Wenchuan earthquake was so long as up to 100 second. Aftershock focal mechanisms are also used to constrain the fault geometry for the sub-segments, indicating that the seismogenic faults are listric at depth and in general, the fault plane becomes steeper northward, which enables the fault to accommodate larger strike-slip motion. This earthquake also confirms that the crustal shortening across the Longmenshan fold-and-thrust belt should be responsible for the growth of high topographic relief along the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau.展开更多
基金financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40802052)Part of the installation of the CGPS network was funded through a cooperation between the CEA and the French ANR funding agency (N° ANR-05-CATT-006)
文摘Three magnitude 〉6 earthquakes struck Qaidam, Qinghai province, China, in November 10th 2008, August 28th and 31st 2009 respectively. The Zongwulongshan fault has often been designated as the active seismogenic structure, although it is at odd with the data. Our continuous GPS station （CGPS）, the Xiao Qaidam station, located in the north of the Qaidam basin, is less than 30 km to the southwest of the 2008 earthquake. This CGPS station recorded the near field co-seismic deformation. Here we analyzed the co-seismic dislocation based on the GPS time series and the rupture processes from focal mechanism for the three earthquakes. The afiershocks were relocated to constrain the spatial characteristics of the 2008 and 2009 Qaidam earthquakes. Field geological and geomorphological investigation and interpretation of satellite images show that the Xitieshan fault and Zongwulongshan fault were activated as left lateral thrust during the late Quaternary. Evidence of folding can also be identified. Integrated analyses based on our data and the regional tectonic environment show that the Xitieshan fault is the fault responsible for the 2008 Qaidam earthquake, which is a low dip angle thrust with left lateral strike slip. The Zongwulongshan fault is the seismogenic fault of the 2009 earthquakes, which is a south dipping back thrust of the northern marginal thrust system of the Qaidam basin. Folding takes a significant part of the deformation in the northern marginal thrust system of the Qaidam basin, dominating the contemporary structure style of the northern margin of the Qaidam basin and Qilianshan tectonic system. In this region, this fault and fold system dominates the earthquake activities with frequent small magnitude earthquakes.
文摘The post-earthquake field investigations reveal that the MW7.9 Wenchuan earthquake of 12th May 2008 ruptured three NE-striking imbricate reverse faults and another NW-trending reverse fault, along the middle Longmenshan fold-and-thrust belt at the eastern margin of the Tibetan plateau. The fault-scarp features can be categorized into eight groups: simple thrust scarp, hanging-wall collapse scarp, simple pressure ridge, dextral pressure ridge, fault-related fold scarp, back-thrust pressure ridge, local normal fault scarp and crocodile-mouth-like scarp. The local normal scarp is first discovered in the reverse-faulting earthquakes as ever reported in the world. Field observation indicates that the Wenchuan earthquake surface rupture is dominated by reverse faulting with a minus right-lateral component, but the relative ratio varies from site to site. Also, the surface ruptures can be divided, for the first order, into two segments, the Yingxiu and Beichuan segments, corresponding to MW7.8 and MW7.57 events, respectively. The two segments further can be divided, for the second order, into four sub-segments in total, which are equivalent to four sub-events of MW7.46, MW7.69, MW6.99 and MW7.52, respectively. The fault segmentation, for different orders, shows a cascade-rupturing pattern and can explain why the quake time of the Wenchuan earthquake was so long as up to 100 second. Aftershock focal mechanisms are also used to constrain the fault geometry for the sub-segments, indicating that the seismogenic faults are listric at depth and in general, the fault plane becomes steeper northward, which enables the fault to accommodate larger strike-slip motion. This earthquake also confirms that the crustal shortening across the Longmenshan fold-and-thrust belt should be responsible for the growth of high topographic relief along the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau.
