The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Structural Geology and Tectonics
Volume 12 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/feart.2024.1433148
Fault Geometry and Kine matics at the Intersection of the Zemuhe, Daliangshan and Xiaojiang Faults
Provisionally accepted- 1 Sichuan Earthquake Administration, Chengdu, China
- 2 State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing, China
- 3 Yunnan Earthquake Administration, Kunming, China
The complexity of strike-slip fault segmentation affects the initiation, propagation, and termination of earthquake ruptures and the earthquake magnitude. Studying the fault geometry, kinematics, and segmentation provides fundamental knowledge for mitigating earthquake hazards along faults. The Zemuhe, Daliangshan, and Xiaojiang Faults intersect along the eastern boundary of the Tibetan Plateau in the area from Ningnan in Sichuan Province to Qiaojia in Yunnan Province. Although few large earthquakes have occurred on these faults, the relationships between the intersections of these three faults and earthquake rupture behavior in this region are poorly constrained. The interpretation of aerial photographs and detailed field surveys revealed the geometric pattern and fault kinematics in the area of intersection. The distribution patterns and focal depths near the faults were obtained via analysis of seismic data in the area of intersection.The northern segment of the Xiaojiang Fault deviates approximately 25° northwest of Qiaojia, forming a conspicuous bend. The Xiaojiang Fault continues to extend southeast of the Ningnan Basin, where it intersects with the southern segment of the Zemuhe Fault, forming a pull-apart basin approximately 4.5 km wide. The bend and Ningnan pull-apart basin mark the segmented boundary between the Zemuhe Fault and the Xiaojiang Fault, which may prevent the propagation of large earthquake ruptures along the eastern boundary fault. Moreover, the lack of obvious geometric complexity between the Daliangshan Fault and Xiaojiang Fault might hinder the prevention of earthquake rupture propagation. Additionally, our results suggest that different earthquake prevention and disaster reduction measures should be taken for different cities in the region.
Keywords: Fault intersection area, Geometric pattern, Fault kinematics, Earthquake rupture, tibetan plateau
Received: 15 May 2024; Accepted: 02 Sep 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Wei, Chen and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zhanyu Wei, State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing, 100029, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.