Long records of paleoearthquakes along the Xorkoli section of the Altyn Tagh fault

YUAN Zhaode; LIU Jing; WANG Wei; SHAO Yanxiu; LI Zhanfei; LI Zhigang

2020 Vol. 39, No. 2-3

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YUAN Zhaode, LIU Jing, WANG Wei, SHAO Yanxiu, LI Zhanfei, LI Zhigang. Long records of paleoearthquakes along the Xorkoli section of the Altyn Tagh fault[J]. Geological Bulletin of China, 2020, 39(2-3): 147-163.

Citation:

YUAN Zhaode, LIU Jing, WANG Wei, SHAO Yanxiu, LI Zhanfei, LI Zhigang. Long records of paleoearthquakes along the Xorkoli section of the Altyn Tagh fault[J]. Geological Bulletin of China, 2020, 39(2-3): 147-163.

Long records of paleoearthquakes along the Xorkoli section of the Altyn Tagh fault

1.
State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing 100029, China
2.
Institute of Surface-Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
3.
Lanzhou Institute of Seismology, China Earthquake Administration, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, China
4.
Beijing Earthquake Agency, Beijing 100080, China
5.
School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, SunYat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, China

Received Date: 18 November 2019

Revised Date: 09 January 2020

Publish Date: 15 March 2020

Abstract

Abstract

Long records of paleoearthquakes are essential for understanding earthquake recurrence behavior of active faults and evaluating regional seismic hazard.The Altyn Tagh fault, one of the longest strike-slip faults in the world, is a research focus among seismic geologists.The authors documented a long paleoseismic record along the Xorkoli section of central Altyn Tagh fault.Eight or probably nine earthquakes were identified based on event evidence in the forms of open fissures, folds, unconformities, and upward fault terminations, with ages of AD1598 (1491~1740), AD796 (676~926), 668 (732~590) BC, 956 (1206~716) BC, 1301 (1369~1235) BC, 2105 (2232~1987) BC, 2664 (2731~2601) BC, 2818 (2878~2742) BC and 3411 (3521~3205) BC respectively.The mean recurrence interval is 620±410 a with a coefficient of variation of 0.67, indicating that earthquake recurrence is weakly periodic.Synthesis of paleoseismic sites from the central Altyn Tagh fault indicates that not all earthquakes ruptured to the eastern end of the Xorkoli section, within the Aksay restraining bend.Given the 420 a elapsed time since the most recent event, a large surface-rupturing earthquake could occur at any time along the central section.
- Tibet /
- Altyn Tagh fault /
- active tectionics /
- strike-slip fault /
- paleoseismology

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References

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