Structural Traces of Secondary Faults(Fractures) along the Main Faults and Their Reliability as Kinematic Indicators

Secondary/minor structures occurring along the main fault surfaces are important indicators for judging the kinematic characteristics of faults.However,many factors can lead to the formation of these structures,which results in the difficulty for rapid judgment and application in the fields.A series of secondary faults/fractures developed due to the movement of main faults are the most important and widespread phenomena in the scope of brittle deformation.The morphology of the main fault surfaces is various,and former researchers mainly discussed the structures on the main even fault surfaces. However,the fluctuation of fault surfaces is the intrinsic character of the faults,and the intersection between the main fault and secondary faults/fractures can produce a series of kinematic indicators on the main fault surfaces.Based on previous studies and our observations,i.e.the structural traces of the P,R,R',T and X shears/faults along the main faults,some indicators which are rarely reported previously,are described in the paper.Furthermore,their reliabilities are also discussed,and more practical and reliable criteria are brought forward.We suggest that the simple application of congruous and incongruous steps without knowing their exact origins should be abandoned in the fields,and several types of indicators along one fault surface should be checked with each other as much as possible.Meanwhile,the origins of some other arcuate indicators on the fault surfaces are also discussed,and new models are brought forward.

Basement Structure and Properties of the Western Junggar Basin, China

A comprehensive geophysical profile stretching from Qingyijing at the southern edge of the Junggar Basin to Ubara on the northern margin of the Junggar Basin was conducted in an attempt to probe the crustal structure of the western Junggar Basin(hereafter referred to simply as ‘the Basin'), and, in particular, the structure and property of the Basin's crystalline basement. A survey using seismically converted waves was conducted along this profile to determine the characteristics of the P-and Swave velocities typical of the crust and uppermost mantle. A joint inversion of gravitation and aeromagnetic data was also performed to acquire the density and magnetization intensity values found beneath the western Basin. This research revealed that the Basin is composed of the so-called Manasi terrain in the south, and the Wulungu terrain in the north. Their boundary is located along the WNW-trending Dishuiquan-Sangequan suture, linking the NE-striking Da'erbute suture(DS) in the west, and the WNWtrending Kalameili suture(KS) in the east. In its northern part, the Wulungu-type terrain has a doublelayered basement, of which the upper layer is a folded basement of Hercynian orogenic origin, and the lower layer is a crystalline basement of Middle–Upper Proterozoic age. The southern part of the Basin, i.e., the Manasi terrain, has a single-layered crystalline basement. The folded basement here is too thin to be clearly distinguished.

The uplifting process of the Bogda Mountain during the Cenozoic and its tectonic implication

The Tianshan Mountains have undergone its initial orogeny, extension adjusting and re-orogeny since the Late Paleozoic. The re-orogeny and uplifting process of the orogeny in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic are two of most important events in the geological evolution of Euro-Asian continent, which resulted in the formation of the present range-and-basin pattern in topography of the Tianshan Mountains and its adjacent areas. Thermochronology results by the method of fission-track dating of apatite suggest three obvious uplifting stages of the Bogad Mountain Chain re-orogeny during the Cenozoic, i.e. 5.6-19 Ma, 20-30 Ma, and 42-47 Ma. The strongest uplifting stage of the mountain is the second one at 20 -30 Ma, when the mountain uplifted as a whole, and the beginning of re-orogeny was no less than 65 Ma. Furthermore, our studies also show that the uplifting types of the mountain are variable in the dif-ferent time periods, including uplifting of mountain as a whole and differential uplifting. The apparently diversified uplifting processes of the mountain chain are characterized by the migration (or transfor-mation) of the uplifting direction of the mountain from west to east and from north to south, and the main process of mountain extending is from north to south.