scholarly journals Late Quaternary Slip Rate and Kinematics of the Baoertu Fault, Constrained by 10Be Exposure Ages of Displaced Surfaces within Eastern Tian Shan

Lithosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangxue Ren ◽  
Chuanyou Li ◽  
Chuanyong Wu ◽  
Huiping Zhang ◽  
Siyu Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Investigation on the kinematics and deformation rates about active fault interior of the Tian Shan can provide significant information for strengthening our understanding on the present tectonic evolution of this range. The Baoertu Fault (BETF) is a major E-W striking active structure within the eastern Tian Shan and separates the south and central Tian Shan. But its kinematics and slip rates in the late Quaternary have never been systematically reported before. Based on interpretations of remote sensing images, drone photography, and detailed field investigations, we propose that the BETF is characterized by left-lateral strike-slip faulting with a thrust component and provides the first late Pleistocene slip rate for this fault. At the northern margin of the Kumishi Basin, combining offset reconstructions of displaced alluvial fan surfaces with the terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) exposure age dating, we calculate an average sinistral slip rate of 0.65±0.16 mm/yr and average vertical slip rate of 0.07±0.01 mm/yr for the BETF since 95-106 ka. The differential movement eastward between the central Tian Shan block and Yanqi-Kumishi Basin block is likely the dominant driver of the left-lateral slip of the BETF. Synthesizing other quantitative data in eastern Tian Shan, we suggest that the hinterland active faults or folds, including the BEFT, roughly accommodate ~28-45% of the total N-S convergence across the eastern Tian Shan.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Marr ◽  
Stefan Winkler ◽  
Svein Olaf Dahl ◽  
Jörg Löffler

<p>Periglacial, paraglacial and related boulder-dominated landforms constitute a valuable, but often unexplored source of palaeoclimatic and morphodynamic information. The timing of landform formation and stabilization can be linked to past cold climatic conditions which offers the possibility to reconstruct cold climatic periods. In this study, Schmidt-hammer exposure-age dating (SHD) was applied to a variety of boulder-dominated landforms (sorted stripes, blockfield, paraglacial alluvial fan, rock-slope failure) in Rondane, eastern South Norway for the first time. On the basis of an old and young control point a local calibration curve was established from which surface exposure ages of each landform were calculated. The investigation of formation, stabilization and age of the respective landforms permitted an assessment of Holocene climate variability in Rondane and its connectivity to landform evolution. The obtained SHD age estimates range from 11.15 ± 1.22 to 3.99 ± 1.52 ka which shows their general inactive and relict character. Most surface exposure ages of the sorted stripes cluster between 9.62 ± 1.36 and 9.01 ± 1.21 ka and appear to have stabilized towards the end of the ‘Erdalen Event’ or in the following warm period prior to ‘Finse Event’. The blockfield age with 8.40 ± 1.16 ka indicates landform stabilization during ‘Finse Event’, around the onset of the Holocene Thermal Maximum (~8.0–5.0 ka). The paraglacial alluvial fan with its four subsites shows age ranges from 8.51 ± 1.63 to 3.99 ± 1.52 ka. The old exposure age points to fan aggradation follow regional deglaciation due to paraglacial processes, whereas the younger ages can be explained by increasing precipitation during the onset neoglaciation at ~4.0 ka. Surface exposure age of the rock-slope failure with 7.39 ± 0.74 ka falls into a transitional climate period towards the Holocene Thermal Maximum (~8.0–5.0 ka). This indicates that climate-driven factors such as decreasing permafrost depth and/or increasing hydrological pressure negatively influence slope stability. Our obtained first surface exposure ages from boulder-dominated landforms in Rondane give important insights to better understand the palaeoclimatic variability in the Holocene.</p>


Tectonics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingxing Yu ◽  
R. T. Walker ◽  
E. J. Rhodes ◽  
Peizhen Zhang ◽  
Chaopeng Li ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 97 ◽  
pp. 88-98
Author(s):  
Stephanie L. Heath ◽  
Thomas V. Lowell ◽  
Brenda L. Hall

AbstractThe Laurentide Ice Sheet of the last glacial period terminated in several lobes along its southern margin. The timing of maximum extent may have varied among the terminal lobes owing to internal ice sheet dynamics and spatially variable external controls. Some terminal ice lobes, such as the westernmost James Lobe, remain poorly dated. To determine the timing of maximum ice extent in this key location, we have mapped glacial deposits left by the Pierre Sublobe in South Dakota and applied 10Be surface exposure age dating on boulders on moraine ridges associated with three distinct late Quaternary glacial drifts. The oldest and most extensive “Tazewell” drift produced variable 10Be surface exposure ages spanning 20–7 ka; the large range is likely attributable to moraine degradation and subsequent boulder exhumation. The oldest ages of about 20 ka are probably limiting minimum ages for the Tazewell moraine surfaces. By contrast, exposure ages of the youngest “Mankato” drift of the easternmost Pierre Sublobe tightly cluster at about 16 ka. This age for the Pierre Sublobe is consistent with the nearby Des Moines Lobe, suggesting both acted together.


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duo Wang ◽  
Gong-Ming Yin ◽  
Xu-Long Wang ◽  
Chun-Ru Liu ◽  
Fei Han ◽  
...  

Abstract The Gyaring Co Fault (GCF) is an active right-lateral strike-slip fault in central Tibet that accommodates convergence between India and Asia in the interior of the Tibetan Plateau. The average long-term slip rate of the fault remains controversial, given the absence of absolute age data of faulted geomorphic features. We have applied optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating to the northern segment of the GCF, revealing that the GCF has displaced alluvial fans at Aerqingsang by 500 ± 100 m since their deposition at ~109 ka, yielding a slip rate of 4.6 ± 1.0 mm/yr. A slip rate of 3.4 ± 0.4 mm/yr is inferred from analysis of an alluvial fan with an offset of 65 ± 5 m (~19 ka) at Quba site 1. The Holocene slip rate is estimated to be 1.9 ± 0.3 mm/yr, as inferred from the basal age (~8.3 ka) of terrace T1 that has a gully displacement of 16 ± 2 m at Quba site 2. These slip rates are generally lower early estimates (10–20 mm/yr), but are consistent with more recent results (2.2–4.5 mm/yr) and GPS data for other strike-slip faults in this region, indicating that deformation may be distributed across the entire Tibetan Plateau. Moreover, we suggest that the slip rate along the GCF may have decreased slightly during the late Quaternary.


2003 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
John G. Helms ◽  
Sally F. McGill ◽  
Thomas K. Rockwell

AbstractThe orange coating (varnish) that forms on the undersides (ventral sides) of clasts in desert pavements constitutes a potential relative-age indicator. Using Munsell color notation, we semiquantified the color of the orange, ventral varnish on the undersides of clasts from 15 different alluvial fan and terrace surfaces of various ages ranging from less than 500 to about 25,000 yr. All of the surfaces studied are located along the central portion of the left-lateral Garlock fault, in the Mojave Desert of southern California. The amount of left-lateral offset may be used to determine the relative ages of the surfaces. The previously published slip rate of the fault may also be used to estimate the absolute age of each surface. The color of the ventral varnish is strongly correlated with surface age and appears to be a more reliable age-indicator than the percentage coverage of dorsal varnish. Soil development indices also were not as strongly correlated with age, as were the colors of the ventral varnish. In particular, rubification appears to be more useful than soils for distinguishing relative ages among Holocene surfaces. Humidity sensors indicated that the undersides of clasts condensed moisture nightly for a period of several days to over a week after each rain. These frequent wet-dry cycles may be responsible for the rapid development of clast rubification on Holocene surfaces.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nimrod Wieler ◽  
Amit Mushkin ◽  
Eitan Shelef ◽  
Huiping Zhang ◽  
Amir Sagy ◽  
...  

<p>Slip partitioning along the northern boundary of the Tibetan Plateau is essential for understanding regional deformation and the seismic potential of the different faults that accommodate it. Within this framework the Altyn Tagh Fault (ATF) is commonly viewed as the primary structure that separates the Tibetan Plateau from the stable Gobi-Alashan block to the north. Late Quaternary sinistral slip rates of 8-12 mm/yr across the central ATF between 86° and 93°E decrease eastwards to zero as the fault approaches its mid-continental termination at ~97°E. To better understand how late Quaternary slip is partitioned along the ATF’s eastern termination we obtained new slip-rate measurements  for the ~200-km-long left-lateral ENE striking Sanweishan Fault (SSF) located ~60 km north of the ATF between 94°-96°E near the town of Dunhuang.</p><p>Multiple sinistral offsets ranging up to 600 m were identified by linking the clast assemblage of offset alluvial fan remnants with their provenance upstream of the fault.  Luminescence dating revealed depositional ages ranging from 100 - 200 ka for the offset features and time-invariant minimum sinistral slip of 2.5±1 mm/yr during the last ~200 ka, which is approximately an order of magnitude higher than previously reported slip-rates for the SSF. Our results indicate that the SSF and the eastern segment of the ATF accommodate comparable magnitudes of late Quaternary slip. Considering this substantial transfer of lateral slip as far as 60 km north of the eastern ATF we propose that the SSF may represent juvenile northeastward expansion of the Tibetan Plateau into previously stable parts of the Gobi-Alashan block.</p>


1987 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen G. Wells ◽  
Leslie D. McFadden ◽  
John C. Dohrenwend

AbstractRadiocarbon dating of late Quaternary deposits and shorelines of Lake Mojave and cation-ratio numerical age dating of stone pavements (Dorn, 1984) on the adjacent Soda Mountains piedmont provide age constraints for alluvial and eolian deposits. These deposits are associated with climatically controlled stands of Lake Mojave during the past 15,000 yr. Six alluvial fan units and three eolian stratigraphic units were assigned ages based on field relations with dated shorelines and piedmont surfaces, as well as on soil-geomorphic data. All but one of these stratigraphic units were deposited in response to time-transgressive climatic changes beginning approximately 10,000 yr ago. Increased eolian flux rates occurred in response to the lowering of Lake Mojave and a consequent increase in fine-sediment availability. Increased rates of deposition of eolian fines and associated salts influenced pedogenesis, stone-pavement development, and runoff-infiltration relations by (1) enhancing mechanical weathering of fan surfaces and hillslopes and (2) forming clay- and silt-rich surface horizons which decrease infiltration. Changes in alluvial-fan source areas from hillslopes to piedmonts during the Holocene reflect runoff reduction on hillslopes caused by colluvial mantle development and runoff enhancement on piedmonts caused by the development of less-permeable soils. Inferred increased in early to middle Holocene monsoonal activity resulted in high-magnitude paleo-sheetflood events on older fan pavements; this runoff triggered piedmont dissection which, in turn, caused increased sediment availability along channel walls. Thus, runoff-infiltration changes during the late Quaternary have occurred in response to eolian deposition of fines, pedogenesis, increased sheetflood activity in the Holocene, and vegetational changes which are related to many complicated linkages among climatic change, lake fluctuations, and eolian, hillslope, and alluvial-fan processes.


2009 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Carcaillet ◽  
J.L. Mugnier ◽  
R. Koçi ◽  
F. Jouanne

AbstractIn Albania, the Osum and Vjoje rivers cross the active graben system and the active frontal thrust system of the Albanides. The effects of climatic and geodynamic forcing on the development of these two rivers were investigated by the means of field mapping, topographic surveying and absolute exposure-age dating. We established the chronology of terraces abandonment from the compilation of new dating (14C and in situ produced 10Be) and previously published data. We identified nine fluvial terraces units developed since Marine Isotope Stage 6 up to historic times. From this reconstituted history, we quantified the vertical uplift on a time scale shorter than the glacial climatic cycle. Regional bulging produces an overall increase of the incision rate from the west to the east that reaches a maximum value of 2.8 m/ka in the hinterland. Local pulses of incision are generated by activation of normal faults. The most active faults have a SW–NE trend and a vertical slip rate ranging from 1.8 to 2.2 m/ka. This study outlines the geodynamic control in the development of rivers flowing through the Albanides on the scale of 103–105ka.


Solid Earth ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 561-580 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hindle ◽  
Boris Sedov ◽  
Susanne Lindauer ◽  
Kevin Mackey

Abstract. New field work, combined with analysis of high-resolution aerial photographs, digital elevation models, and satellite imagery, has identified an active fault that is traceable for ∼90 km across the Seymchan Basin and is part of the Ulakhan fault system, which is believed to form the Okhotsk–North America plate boundary. Age dating of alluvial fan sediments in a channel system that is disturbed by fault activity suggests the current scarp is a result of a series of large earthquakes (≥Mw 7.5) that have occurred since 11.6±2.7 ka. A possible channel feature offset by 62±4 m associated with these sediments yields a slip rate of 5.3±1.3 mm yr−1, in broad agreement with rates suggested from global plate tectonics. Our results clearly identify the Ulakhan fault as the Okhotsk–North America plate boundary and show that tectonic strain release is strongly concentrated on the boundaries of Okhotsk. In light of our results, the likelihood of recurrence of Mw 7.5 earthquakes is high, suggesting a previously underestimated seismic hazard across the region.


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