Abstract
The Altyn Tagh fault is one of the few great active strike-slip faults in the world. The recurrence characteristics of paleoearthquakes on this fault are still poorly understood due to the lack of paleoseismic records recorded in high-resolution strata. We document a paleoseismic record in a pull-apart basin along the Wuzunxiaoer section of the central Altyn Tagh fault. The high-resolution strata recorded abundant seismic deformations and their sedimentary responses. Four earthquakes are identified based on event evidence in the form of open fissures, thickened strata, angular unconformities, and folds. The occurrence times of the four events were constrained using radiocarbon dating. Event W1 occurred at AD1220-1773, events W2 and W3 occurred between 407 and 215BC, and event W4 occurred slightly earlier at 1608-1462BC, indicating clustered recurrence characteristics. A comparison of the earthquake records along the Wuzunxiaoer section with other records along the Xorkoli section suggests that both sections ruptured during the most recent event.
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Acknowledgements
We thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive reviews that improve the quality and clarity of the work, Wenying Fan for his help in excavating the trenches, and Dr. Alastair Sloan of the University of Cape Town for language editing. This research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. U1839203, 41761144065, 41802228), Central Public-Interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund (Grant No. IGCEA1814), and State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics of China (Grant No. LED2017A01).
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Yuan, Z., Liu-Zeng, J., Zhou, Y. et al. Paleoseismologic record of earthquakes along the Wuzunxiaoer section of the Altyn Tagh fault and its implication for cascade rupture behavior. Sci. China Earth Sci. 63, 93–107 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-019-9376-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-019-9376-8