Tectonic Taphrogenesis and Paleoseismic Records from the Yishu Fault Zone in the Initial Stage of the Caledonian Movement

The Yishu fault zone （mid-segment of the Tanlu fault zone） was formed in the Presinian. Periodic tectonic activities and strong seismic events have occurred along the fault zone. During the initial stage of the Caledonian Movement, with the proceeding of the marine transgression from the Yishu paleo-channel to the western Shandong, uneven thick sediments, composed mainly of sand, mud and carbonates of littoral, lagoon, and neritic facies, were deposited in the Yishu fault zone and western Shandong, and constructed the bottom part of the Lower Cambrian consisting of the Liguan and Zhushadong formations. Through field observations and the lab-examinations, various paleoseismic records have been discovered in the Liguan Formation and the Zhushadong Formations of the Yishu fault zone and its vicinity, including some layers with syn-sedimentary deformation structures that were triggered by strong earthquakes （i.e. seismite, seismo-olistostrome, and seismo-turbidite）. Paleoseismic records developed in the Zhushadong Formation are mainly seismites with soft-sediment deformation structures, such as liquefied diapir, small liquefied-carbonate lime-mud volcano, liquefied vein, liquefied breccia, convolute deformation （seismic fold）, graded fault, soft siliceous vein, and deformation stromatolite, as well as seismites with brittle deformation structures of semiconsolidated sediments. Paleoseismic records preserved in the Liguan Formation are not only seismo-olistostrome with a slump fold, load structure, and ball-and-pillows, but also seismo-turbidite with convolution bedding, graded bedding and wavy-bedding. However, in the western Shandong area, the closer to the Yishu fault zone, the greater the thickness of the Liguan Formation and the Zhushadong Formation, the greater the number and type of layers with paleoseismic records, and the higher the earthquake intensity reflected by associations of seismic records. This evidence indicates that tectonic taphrogenesis accompanied by strong earthquake events occurred in the Yishu fault zone during the initial stage of the Caledonian Movement, which embodied the break-up of the Sino-Korean Plate along the Paleo-Tanlu fault zone at that time.

Study on dynamics of tectonic evolution in the Fushun Basin, Northeast China

The updated study shows that the taphrogenesis of basement of the Fushun Basin is not a kind of instantaneous process. It intensified gradually and went to extreme in the sedimentary stage of the Guchengzi formation, and then, it weakened rapidly and stopped soon afterwards; the depression did not take place after the taphrogenesis. On the contrary, it almost happened simultaneously with the taphrogenesis. The depression went at a high speed from the beginning of the sedimentary period of the Xilutian formation, and then weakened gradually in the sedimentary period of the Gengjiajie formation. The evolution course of the synsedimentary structure of the Fushun Basin can be summarized as the following six stages: slow taphrogenesis and high speed depression to accelerated taphrogenesis and high speed depression to high speed taphrogenesis and high speed depression to retarded taphrogenesis and high speed depression to gradual halt of taphrogenesis and reduced depression to slow depression and gradual halt of depression. The tectonic evolution resulted in the formation of the 'lower taphrogenesis and upper depression' structure. The formation of the binary structure might be due to the suspension of taphrogenesis and the change of the regional structure stress field, but the depression kept going. The result of calculation combining the analysis of the synsedimentary structural frame, the back-stripping method of the subsidence history of the basin basement and the simulation of thermo-settlement history indicates that the great sedimentary space required by the 'upper depression part' consists of two parts, namely, 40% from compaction of sediments and 60% from slow depression of the basin basement during a long period of time. Gradual halt of the depression in the Fushun Basin may be attributed to the reversal of the lithosphere hot-recession and gravity isostasy adjustment which may be the result of new hot-events in the depths and accompanied invasion of extremely thick diabase sill, thus revealing a new forming mechanism of 'fault subsidence at the base and depression on the top' structure.