TWO PHASES OF CENOZOIC DEFORMATION IN NORTHEASTERN TIBET: THRUSTING FOLLOWED BY STRIKE-SLIP FAULTING

In order to establish deformation history for the Cenozoic development of the Tibetan Plateau, we conducted geologic mapping along a 120km traverse between Nangqian and Yushu in the northeastern Qiangtang terrane. This work reveals a complex interaction among Tertiary thrusting, strike\|slip faulting, sedimentation, and igneous activity. Two phases of deformation are recognized. The older northeast—southwest shortening, expressed by thrusting and folding, is followed by left\|slip faulting along northwest\|trending faults. Tertiary thrusts, predominantly southwest\|dipping, are distributed throughout the traverse, and typically juxtapose Mesozoic strata over Paleogene strata. The latter were deposited in several separated basins during folding and thrusting, as indicated by well\|developed growth strata. A preliminary construction of balanced cross\|sections suggests a minimum estimate of 45km of crustal shortening along the traverse. Numerous hypabyssal intrusions were mapped in the southern part of the traverse near Nangqian. They were emplaced into the Paleogene sediments and are dated between 36 and 33Ma by 40 Ar/ 39 Ar and U\|Pb methods. Paleogene sediments are also interbedded with volcanics in both the southern and northern parts of the study area. In the northernmost part of the traverse, a volcanic unit overlies a Tertiary thrust. This unit itself is broadly folded. This relationship suggests that Tertiary igneous activity was coeval with contractional deformation in the region, implying strongly the causal relationship between the two processes. The youngest event in the area is the development of northwest\|trending left\|slip faults. They cut Tertiary thrusts, folds, and about 35Ma igneous intrusions. In contrast to widely distributed Tertiary folds and thrusts, strike\|slip faulting is restricted only to the southern portion of our mapped area near Nangqian. The strike\|slip faults apparently control the distribution of modern drainage systems, suggesting that they may have been active recently. As the younger strike\|slip faults are subparallel to the older folds and thrusts, we have not been able to determine the magnitude of left\|slip on these faults. We interpret the termination of contractional deformation and the subsequent replacement by strike\|slip faulting as a result of both clockwise rotation of the region and westward propagation of strike\|slip deformation in eastern Tibet.

The characteristics of tectonic stress field about strike slip earthquake－generating structure in the Chinese mainland

This paper is one of the series papers about the study on strike-slip earthquake-generating structure in the Chinese mainland. In the first part of this paper, based on the large amount of data from large earthquake investigation and the latest results of focal mechanism, the earthquake-generating structure in the Chinese mainland interior and its neighbouring region is discussed. It is concluded that the absolutely predominated earthquake, not only in number, but also in intensity, as well as in distributing area, is strike slip earthquake, and it is further stressed that the study on the strike slip earthquake-generating structure is significant for seismic risk analysis. In the second part, the characteristics of tectonic stress field about strike slip earthquake-generating structure and the compiled distribution outline of strike slip earthquake-generating fault, normal fault, and thrust fault in the Chinese mainland interior and its neighbouring region, in the light of stress characteristics of fault plane solutions, are also discussed.

CENOZOIC LARGE-SCALE STRIKE-SLIP FAULT IN WEST YUNNAN, CHINA

During the collision between India and Eurasia, the continental compression and shorten is thought to be absorbed by the way of thickening of the Tibetan plateau crust and strike\|slip extrusion outwardly of blocks surrounding the Tibetan plateau. A series of models have been proposed recently, of which the most typical one is continental blocks extrusion by Tapponnier et al.. Virtually previous studies show that the Red River—Ailaoshan fault is the eastern boundary of extrusion Indochina displaced southward relative to South China about 23 Ma ago, and more, the western boundary of extrusion blocks is inferred to be Sijie fault in the eastern Burma. But the movement age of Sijie fault is around 13 Ma inferred from the age of Andeman Sea formation and different from that of the Red River—Ailaoshan fault. It is an important scientific problem where the western boundary of extrusion blocks is.

PALEOCENE—MIDDLE EOCENE DEXTRAL STRIKE-SLIP DEFORMATION AND ITS TECTONIC IMPLICATION IN THE WESTERN YUNNAN, CHINA

The Western Yunnan located at the southeast margin of east Himalaya\|Burman syntaxis. A great number of small basins filled with lacustrine developed in the Indochina block during the Paleocene\|middle Eocene. Occurrence of basins as en chelon arrangement suggests that they were formed under tectonic setting of right\|lateral strike\|slip. The north termination of main faults controlling basins deposition and evolution, meet the Red River fault as an acute angle. The Lanping basin, one representative of all basins, is chosen to study its formation mechanism. Facts of rapid lateral phase change, sediment offset from their source and lateral migration of alluvial fan, indicate that the Lanping basin is a strike\|slip basin and its boundary main fault is syndepositional left\|lateral strike\|slip normal fault. Basin formation was controlled by mechanism of strike\|slip and pull\|apart, the Lanping basin belongs to extension strike\|slip basin. The nature of the Lanping basin and infill suggest that the boundary fault controlling basin deposit was formed during right\|lateral strike\|slip deformation of the Red River fault. Whether formation mechanism of single basin or occurrence of basins supported that the Red River fault was a right\|lateral strike\|slip fault during the Paleocene\|middle Eocene.

On the Kinematic Characteristics and Dynamic Process of Boundary faults of the Nansha Ultra-crust Layer-Block

Abstract The Nansha ultra-crust layer-block is confined by ultra-crustal boundary faults of distinctive features, bordering the Kangtai-Shuangzi-Xiongnan extensional faulted zone on the north, the Baxian-Baram-Yoca-Cuyo nappe faulted zone on the south, the Wan'an-Natuna strike-slip tensional faulted zone on the west and the Mondoro-Panay strike-slip compressive faulted zone on the east. These faults take the top of the Nansha asthenosphere as their common detachmental surface. The Cenozoic dynamic process of the ultra-crust layer-block can be divided into four stages: K2-E21, during which the northern boundary faults extended, this ultra-crust layer-block was separated from the South China-Indosinian continental margin, the Palaeo-South China Sea subducted southwards and the Sibu accretion wedge was formed; E22-E31, during which the Southwest sub-sea basin extended and orogeny was active due to the collision of the Sibu accretion wedge; E32-N11, during which the central sub-sea basin extended, the Miri accretion wedge was formed and “A-type” subduction of the southern margin of the north Balawan occurred; N12-the present, during which large-scale thrusting and napping of the boundary faults in the south and mountain-building have taken place and the South China Sea stopped its extension.

DEFINITING AND ITS GEOLOGIC MEANING OF SOUTH-NORTH TREND FAULTED STRUCTURE BELT IN QIANGTANG BASIN, NORTH PART OF TIBET

There were more expounding to north—west (west) trend fault and north\|east trend fault within Qiangtang Basin, North Part of Tibet, in the past literature. With increasing of geophysical exploration data, nearly east\|west trend structure began to be taken note to. Since the year of 1995, by a synthetic study to geophysical and geological data, that south\|north trend faulted structures are well developed. These structures should be paid much more attention to, because they have important theoretical meaning and practical significance.1 Spreading of south\|north faulted structure belt According to different geological and geophysical data, the six larger scale nearly south\|north faulted structure belt could be distinguished within the scope of east longitude 84°～96° and near Qiangtang Basin. The actual location of the six belts are nearly located in the west of the six meridian of east longitude 85°,87°,89°,91°,93°,95° or located near these meridian. The six south\|north faulted structure belts spread in the same interval with near 2° longitude interval. The more clear and much more significance of south\|north trend faulted structure belts are the two S—N trend faulted structure belts of east longitude 87° and 89°. There are S—N trend faulted structure belts in the west of east longitude 83°,81°, or near the longitudes. The structure belts spreading features,manifestation,geological function and its importance, and inter texture and structure are not exactly so same. The structure belts all different degree caused different region of geological structure or gravity field and magnetic field. There is different scale near S—N trend faulted structure belt between the belts.

The Epi－continental arc of Southeast China and relevant earthquakes

Epi continental arc system is a series of arcuate structures along coastlines of the mainland and behind the island arc system on the margin of the Northwest peri Pacific region. Epi continental arc is similar to the island arc in geometery and kinematics, but it was characterised by an arcuate fracture zone and compensated front sag, basic volcanic activity, shallow earthquake belt and the latest active tectonics. The eastern China continent is dominated by the coastal epi continental arc of Southeast China. Its front arc is situated along the coastline of Zhejiang, Fujian and eastern Guangdong provinces which is convex to SE. The left NW trending flank extended along the NW trending coast line of northern Jiangsu and traversed Shangdong Peninsula to northern Hebei and Shanxi provinces; and the right E W trending flank along the western Guangdong, southern Guangxi, northern Hainan coastlines extended to northern Hanoi. This arc controlls activities of the most modern intense earthquakes in eastern China continents. The compressing thrust type earthquakes occurred along the front arc, especially the 'collison belt', and the strike slip type earthquakes along the both flanks sinistral and dextral strike slip faults respectively. Earthquakes of epi continental arc type is characterised by segmentation in space and periodicity in time.

Regional Fault Systems of Qaidam Basin and Adjacent Orogenic Belts

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the regional fault systems o f Qaidam basin and adjacent orogenic belts. Field investigation and seismic interp retation indicate that five regional fault systems occurred in the Qaidam and ad jacent mountain belts, controlling the development and evolution of the Qaidam b asin. These fault systems are: (1)north Qaidam Qilian Mountain fault system; (2 ) south Qaidam East Kunlun Mountain fault system; (3)Altun strike slip fault s ystem; (4)Elashan strike slip fault system, and (5) Gansen Xiaochaidan fault s ystem. It is indicated that the fault systems controlled the orientation of the Qaidam basin, the formation and distribution of secondary faults within the basi n, the migration of depocenters and the distribution of hydrocarbon accumulation belt.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ALKALINE VOLCANIC ROCKS OF PLIOCENE IN THE WESTERN PART OF HONGHE FAULT ZONE

A set of pull\|apart basins were formed along the Weixi—Qiaohou right\|lateral slip shear zone of the western part of Honghe fault zone during the period from Miocene to Quaternary.A rock suite of alkaline basalt\|trachyte\|leucite phonolite is distributed in the Pliocene basin developed in the middle and northern parts of the fault. The location of these rocks and the features of the basin indicate the close relationship between the rock suite and the strike\|slipping.. The sedimentological and chronological evidences prove that Dianxi plateau uplifted quickly in the Pliocene. We can get the information about the plutonic process of the uplift of the plateau from this alkaline rock association. There are mainly olivine\|pyroxene\|trachyandesite and biotite\|trachyte in the rock association. The rocks are often of porphyritic texture and block or semi\|directional flowage structure while the matrix is of trachytic or microcrystalline texture. The phanerocrysts are diopsidic augite, rimpylite, biotite and perthite (olivine sometimes can be seen). The matrix are made up of alkaline feldspar microcrystalline (30%～50%), short\|grained diopside (10%～15%), light\|colored volcanic glass (0～15%) and some magnetite, while feldspar microcrystalline in some rocks are arranged directionally. And there are sharp\|edged or round pyroxenite enclaves and hemicrystalline of short grained sinaite, biotite sinaite and felsic breccia in the trachyte, with good demarcation line. The pyroxenite enclaves in the trachyte are of different size, and the size of the biggest ones are 10cm or so with the characteristic of plastic yield flowing. Sinaite hemicrystalline may come from the older intrusions of Pliocene and Eocene epoch.

CHARACTERISTICS OF TECTONIC MIXTITE ZONE IN THE LANCANG RIVER,WESTERN YUNNAN

Specialists think tectonic mixtite zone in Lancang River, which lies in southern and eastern fringe of Qingzang plateau, is the suture line (or contact strip) between Gondwana Land and Yangtz block (Fan Chengjun, 1982; Liu Zhengqian, etc, 1991; Fang Runsen,1993).By regional geological study (Legend:1∶50000) in Tu’e, western Yunnan, the author think major fracture zone about 6\|8km from western Lancang River is fragile\|ductile shear zone between batholithic granite of Biluo snow mountain and Jurassic\|Cretaceous slight curdle strata. The zone is a very complicated tectonic mixtite zone (width:0.7\|6km; strike: SN\|direction). Study based on geometric structure, constitution, metamorphism, deformation and kinematic characteristics, the author sum up the following features about the complex deformation zone.(1) Tectonic mixtite zone is a very complicate blocks made up of curdle blocks and residual blocks of granite. Its’ geometric structure is a net\|shape structure composed of matrixes and chaotic blocks in plane and have two kinds of structure types (obduction schists in early diagenesis and heteroploytypes in late diagenesis) in section.

THE GROWTH MODE OF ALTUN FAULT AND IT'S DYNAMICS

A set of ENE\|trending fault which locates in the rigid Tarim massif and flexible Qilian massif in the same dynamic system of the uplift of the Qinghai—Tibetan plateau is referred to as the Altun Fault (ALF). ALF displays a linear geometry or a geometry of overlapping of linear and arcuate segments and a growth and development process of the breakdown segment\|by\|segment, connection segment\|by\|segment and propagation gradually (northeastward migration of the northeast tip, southwestward growth of the southwest tip). The formation of the Altun fault began in the middle or upper Carboniferous. It was characteristic of the sinistral strike\|slip\|thrust before Eocene, of the thrust\|sinistral strike\|slip during Oligocene—Miocene, and of the normal slip, and thrust\|sinistral strike\|slip simultaneously since Miocene.

Research on the seismotectonics of the Jan－uary 17，1995 Hanshin M7．2 earthquake

Based on the geological tectonics, aftershock activity, earthquake surface rupture and peak ground motion, the geometric and dynamic characteristics of seismogenic tectonics about the 1995 Hanshin earthquake are analysed. Nojima fault and Rokko fault have the same trending direction, but opposite dips. Their rising and falling plates are in symmetrically diagonal distribution. The two faults can be defined as thrust strike slip faults and constitute a pivotal strike slip fault. The earthquake just occurred at the pivot, which is the seismotectonics for the earthquake to develop and occur. The pivotal movement along a strike slip fault often leads to the occurrence of large earthquakes, whose dynamic process can be demonstrated by the stress analysis on the torsion of a beam with rectangle section. The displacement of earthquake surface rupture, aftershock density and peak acceleration change in a certain range of epicentral distance just similar as the shear stress changes from the center to the sides in the rectangle section. The distribution characteristics of the heaviest damage areas are also discussed in the article from the aspects of special geological tectonics and seismotectonic condition. The result obtained from the article can be applied not only to realizing the potencial earthquake sources in middle long time, but also to build reasonably the prediction model about earthquake hazard.