Abstract:

As an important part of the land geomorphic unit, river is one of the main geological forces to shape the surface morphology. The fluvial geomorphic development characteristics are extremely sensitive to tectonic activities and record rich tectonic deformation information in geological history. Therefore, through the information extraction and quantitative analysis of bedrock river, we can reverse the relevant information about the tectonic evolution history. By extracting topographic information, comprehensively analyzing the spatial differences of fluvial geomorphological parameters, sieving the influencing factors such as tectonic, climatic and lithological characteristics, and quantifying the intensity of tectonic activity have become an important research tool for the segmental differences of active faults.

The Northern Zhongtiao Mountains Fault is an active fault that controls the uplift of the Zhongtiao Mountains and subsidence of the Yuncheng Basin, and can be divided into the Hanyang, Yongji, Yanhu and Xiaxian sections from south to north. The activity of each section of the fault is closely related to the shaping of the present-day topography of the Zhongtiao Mountains, and it is a typical area for applying quantitative analysis of fluvial landform to the study of the segmentation differences along the fault. So we can effectively study the distribution characteristics of tectonic activity in the fault zone through the river geomorphological features of Zhongtiao Mountains. In this paper, by extracting information on the river topography of the bedrock mountain watershed system on the northern slopes of the Zhongtiao Mountains, parameters such as the normalized steepness index k_sn, slope S, geometric features of the stream longitudinal profile of the drainage system, the location of the knickpoints and the amount of variant incision between upstream and downstream of the knickpoints are obtained. The results show that the bedrock channels on the northern slopes of the Zhongtiao Mountains has experienced accelerated incision in the longitudinal direction, and that the spatial variation of geomorphological parameters such as the normalized steepness index k_sn, slope S and fluvial incision in the lateral direction is dominated by tectonic uplift, with high values in the Hangyang-Yongji section and decreasing in a segmental manner towards the west, which is consistent with the topographic relief of the Zhongtiao Mountains, but contradicts the high slip rate area and the Cenozoic subsidence centre(the Salt Lake).

The geomorphic response to the slip rate is inconsistent with the topographic relief of the Zhongtiao Mountains, which is high in the west and low in the east. The high value area of geomorphic parameters reveals that the present active tectonic area of the Northern Zhongtiao Mountains Fault is located in the Hanyang-Yongji segment in the south, rather than the salt lake segment with high activity rate. The reason may be related to the migration of part of the activity of Huashan piedmont fault along the NE-trending hidden fault of Huayin Shouyang to the Hanyang Yongji segment of Zhongtiao Mountains. It suggests that the tectonic activity center of the Northern Zhongtiao Mountains Fault moves westward. Compared with the structural deformation caused by the change of sedimentary center, the time scale of river geomorphology response to structural deformation is shorter, and the landform is transformed most rapidly, which leads to the inconsistency between the geomorphological parameters and structural activities of the fault at the Northern Zhongtiao Mountains Fault.

Key words: the Northern Zhongtiao Mountains Fault, fluvial landform, tectonic evolution

摘要：

河流地貌发育特征对构造活动异常敏感, 因此能够有效揭示活动断裂的分段性差异。通过提取地形信息, 综合分析河流地貌参数的空间分布, 筛分构造、 气候、 岩性特征等影响因素, 量化构造活动强度, 是活动断裂分段性的重要研究切入点之一。中条山北麓断裂是控制中条山与运城盆地差异升降的活动断裂, 由南向北可划分为韩阳段、 永济段、 盐湖段和夏县段, 断裂各段的活动性与现今中条山地形地貌的塑造密切相关, 是应用河流地貌研究断裂分段性的理想地区。文中通过提取中条山北坡基岩山区流域水系的河道地形信息, 获取了河道标准化陡峭指数k_sn、 坡度S、 水系高程剖面的几何特征、 河流裂点位置及裂点上、 下游下切量等参数。结果显示, 纵向上中条山北坡基岩河道记录了1期加速下切事件, 在横向上, 河道标准化陡峭指数k_sn、 坡度与河道下切量等地貌参数存在明显的空间变化, 高值区位于韩阳段-永济段, 向W分段性递减, 与中条山西高东低的地形起伏相符, 但与活动速率高值区及盆地新生界沉积中心(盐湖段)的位置不一致。不一致的主因可能与华山山前断裂部分活动性沿中条山北麓断裂韩阳段西延隐伏断裂的迁移有关, 二者活动性在韩阳段-永济段叠加, 并被河流地貌敏感记录, 形成地貌参数的高值异常区, 暗示中条山北麓断裂的构造活动中心已经向W迁移。

关键词: 中条山北麓断裂, 河流地貌, 构造演化