SEISMOLOGY AND GEOLOGY ›› 2023, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (2): 464-483.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-4967.2023.02.010

• Research paper • Previous Articles     Next Articles

SHALLOW STRUCTURE AND QUATERNARY ACTIVITY OF THE TAOCHUAN-HUXIAN FAULT, THE SUB-STRAND OF THE NORTHERN QINLING FAULT ZONE

YANG Chen-yi1)(), LI Xiao-ni1), FENG Xi-jie1), HUANG Yin-di1), PEI Gen-di2)   

  1. 1)Shaanxi Earthquake Agency, Xi’an 710068, China
    2)CCTEG Xi'an Research Institute, Xi’an 710077, China
  • Revised:2022-12-13 Online:2023-04-20 Published:2023-05-18

秦岭北缘断裂带的重要分支——桃川-户县断层的浅部结构与第四纪活动性

杨晨艺1)(), 李晓妮1), 冯希杰1), 黄引弟1), 裴跟弟2)   

  1. 1)陕西省地震局, 西安 710068
    2)中煤科工西安研究院(集团)有限公司, 西安 710077
  • 作者简介:杨晨艺, 女, 1989年生, 2015年于西北大学获构造地质学专业硕士学位, 工程师, 主要从事地震地质与中长期地震预测研究, E-mail: ycy19891228@126.com
  • 基金资助:
    陕西省自然科学基础研究计划青年项目(2022JQ-298);陕西省“十二五”重点项目“关中地区大震危险性评价”共同资助

Abstract:

The northern Qinling fault zone is an important active structure in the southern margin of the Weihe Graben Basin, containing many branch faults, of which the near EW striking Taochuan-Huxian Fault is located on the northern side of the fault zone, and the eastern segment is buried in the Weihe Graben Basin. Shallow seismic exploration has been carried out on the middle part of the buried segment of this fault, and the fault inferred to be a late Pleistocene fault with normal strike-slip movement, but the age and rate of the latest activity have not been determined. By conducting new shallow seismic and drilling joint exploration, we further study the shallow structure, the geometric distribution, the latest activity era and the slip rate in the Quaternary in the two segments of the Taochuan-Huxian Fault. The profile of shallow seismic exploration line TB1 reveals that the west segment of the Taochuan-Huxian Fault with NEE trend can extend at least 20km westward from Taochuan Town. The main fault plane dips to N, and the normal-slip movement has faulted the Quaternary bottom boundary and the underlying crystalline basement in the Taibai Basin. The vertical offset of the Quaternary bottom boundary is about 300m, and the remnants of the old thrust structure are still preserved in the fault zone. The shallow seismic reflection lines ZZ1 and YX1-2 reveal the location of the eastern Taochuan-Huxian Fault with the EW striking buried in the Quaternary of the Weihe Graben Basin in Zhouzhi and Huxian. The main fault plane dips to N, and the fault zone is represented by a fault depression zone of about 6km wide and a stepped structure of about 4km wide respectively. The fault up-breakpoints on both profiles offset the bottom boundary of the Holocene in the Weihe Graben Basin. The drilling joint profile exploration applied at Tanjiazhai in Zhouzhi County and Xiashimasi in Meixian County show that the Taochuan-Huxian Fault is distributed in the junction of the southern Weihe Granben Basin and the Qinling Mountains, where the Holocene marker layer S0 has been vertically offset by 4~5m, yielding an average vertical slip rate of 0.4~1.3mm/a. Combined with the results of shallow seismic surveys, it is well demonstrated that the eastern segment of the Taochuan-Huxian Fault(buried in the Weihe Graben Basin)shows Holocene activity, and it is significantly more active than the western segment(the Taibai Basin segment). This may be due to the fact that the eastern segment has been incorporated into the Weihe Graben Basin and has become part of the primary active tectonic zone on the block boundary, while the western segment has not been incorporated. Spatially, the eastern segment of the Taochuan-Huixian Fault is subparallel to the middle-eastern segment of the North Qinling Fault, which is capable of generating strong earthquakes of magnitude 7 or higher. As an important branch of the North Qinling Fault, the Taochuan-Huixian Fault may also be under the same strong seismic background. These two faults probably jointly control the important active boundary of the southern margin of the Weihe Graben Basin. Future research in seismology and geology of these two faults should be strengthened, including their interrelationships at depth, their roles in vertical and horizontal movement distribution, and their seismogenic capacity and potential seismic hazard. In particular, the activity of the Taochuan-Huoxian Fault since the late Quaternary has only recently received attention, and the level of seismo-geological research on the fault is generally low. In this paper, we conducted preliminary studies on the location, shallow tectonic structure, activity segmentation, latest activity and Holocene vertical slip rate of this fault. Future research on the seismogenic structure of the Taochuan-Huoxian Fault needs to be strengthened in order to deepen and improve the understanding of the fault activity and to provide a basis for analyzing the seismic hazard of this fault.

Key words: active fault, shallow seismic exploration, drilling joint profile exploration, the Taochuan-Huxian Fault, Holocene activity

摘要:

秦岭北缘断裂带是渭河盆地南缘重要的活动构造, 含有多条分支断层, 其中近EW向的桃川-户县断层位于该断裂带的北侧, 其东段隐伏于渭河盆地内。已有研究对该断层隐伏段的中段开展了浅层人工地震勘探, 并推断其为正断兼走滑运动性质的晚更新世活动断层, 但未能确定断层最晚活动的年代与活动速率。文中通过开展新的浅层地震勘探和钻孔联合剖面探测, 进一步研究了桃川-户县断层西段(太白盆地段)与东段(渭河盆地隐伏段)的浅部结构构造和几何展布、第四纪活动的最晚时代及活动速率。探测剖面揭示出桃川-户县断层的西段可向W延伸至少20km至太白盆地, 而东段自眉县起延入渭河盆地, 经周至、户县, 隐伏于渭河盆地第四系中。断层西段在太白盆地断错早第四系及下伏结晶基底, 控制了太白盆地南缘, 其N倾的正断作用断错第四系约300m, 断层带内保留老的逆冲构造残余。断层东段(渭河盆地隐伏段)在周至和户县附近的主断面倾向N, 断层带分别表现为宽约6km的断陷带和宽约4km的阶梯状构造带, 断错了上更新统顶界; 在渭河盆地南缘, 断层断错全新统标志层黑垆土S0, 垂直断距为4~5m, 对应的全新世活动速率为0.4~1.3mm/a。综合浅层地震勘探、钻孔探测及地面地质调查结果分析认为, 桃川-户县断层东段的活动性明显强于西段, 这可能是由于东段并入渭河盆地构造带, 成为一级活动地块边界带的一部分所致。桃川-户县断层是秦岭北缘断裂带的重要组成部分, 其控制了渭河盆地南缘的构造活动。

关键词: 活动断层, 浅层地震探测, 钻孔联合剖面探测, 桃川-户县断层, 全新世活动速率

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