Paleoearthquake Characteristics of the Range-Front Maidan Fault in the Southwestern Tianshan
The Kalpin foreland thrust belt, which is in the southwestern Tianshan Mountains, has some of the most intense tectonic deformation and seismic activity on the continent. The range-front Maidan fault represents part of the boundary zone between the Tarim Basin and the southern Tianshan orogenic belt...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
GeoScienceWorld
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Lithosphere |
| Online Access: | https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/lithosphere/article-pdf/doi/10.2113/2024/lithosphere_2024_130/653188/lithosphere_2024_130.pdf |
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| Summary: | The Kalpin foreland thrust belt, which is in the southwestern Tianshan Mountains, has some of the most intense tectonic deformation and seismic activity on the continent. The range-front Maidan fault represents part of the boundary zone between the Tarim Basin and the southern Tianshan orogenic belt. In contrast with the other range-front faults in the Tianshan region that have been inactive during the late Quaternary, the Maidan fault displayed strong activity in the Holocene. Studying characteristics of paleoearthquake activity along the Maidan fault is highly important to understand the seismic risk and tectonic deformation in this area. On the basis of methods of remote sensing image interpretation, field surveys, trench excavation, and late Quaternary chronology determination, four paleoearthquake events were identified as follows: Event E1: (46.8 ± 4.2)–(49.0 ± 4.8) ka; Event E2: (13.1 ± 0.6)–(22.5 ± 1.7) ka; Event E3: (7.0 ± 0.6)–(7.7 ± 0.4) ka, and Event E4: after (5.1 ± 0.3) ka. Our results show that the range-front Maidan fault was still active during the late Quaternary and that several strong earthquake events ruptured the ground surface. This deformation pattern and strain distribution indicate that the range-front fault and frontal structure of the foreland thrust belt are both experiencing strong deformation, which highlights new challenges in studying paleoearthquake activity sequences and large earthquake risk analysis. |
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| ISSN: | 1941-8264 1947-4253 |