The Tanlu fault zone is the most active fault zone in eastern China. It has been active mainly along the Anqiu-Juxian Fault(AJF)since the Quaternary. Predecessors have done a lot of research on the age, paleoearthquake and geometry structure of the AJF, but most of them focus on the exposed area of the fault, and relatively few studies on the buried section. Using field geological survey, shallow seismic exploration, drilling, and paleoearthquake trench, this paper focuses on the geometry structure of the Xinyi section(the buried section)of the AJF, and analyzes its geometry distribution characteristics in the plane and the structural relationship between the deep and the shallow parts, thus filling the gap of the activity characteristics of the Xinyi section of the AJF. The results show that the Xinyi section of the AJF can be divided into three sections from north to south: the Beimalingshan-Guanzhuang section, the Guanzhuang-Tangdian section and the Tangdian-Xindian section.The Xinyi section of the AJF, mainly manifested as strike-slip and normal faulting, has a right-handed and right-step distribution. The step-over zone with~900m in width and~16km in length is dominated by extension, leaving a length-width ratio of 18:1, much larger than the traditional pull-apart basin ratio of 3:1. According to the shallow seismic profile, the shallow seismic line in the Guanzhuang-Tangdian section revealed the extensional fault depression basin on the north side of the terrace, and the bedrock top of the basin gradually became shallower toward the north. The top of the bedrock in the shallow seismic survey line on the north side of the Nanmalingshan suddenly became deeper, and the NNE-trending compressional near-EW basins of the Nanmalingshan and Tashan developed. The two basins were formed from different origin. With the activity of the Anqiu-Juxian Fault and the erosion and deposition of the Shu River, the two basins gradually developed and merged into a composite basin, and the basin structure was consistent with the Quaternary stratigraphic isopach.The Xinyi section of the Anqiu-Juxian Fault presents the deformation characteristics of the same genesis and coordinated geometric structure in the deep and superficial layers, showing a single branch in the deep, cutting through the Cretaceous strata, extending and rupturing upward along the contact interface between the bedrock mountains and the Quaternary soft soil layer in the superficial layer. The fault is shown as a single branch in the north and south Maling Mountains, and ruptured to the surface in many places. In the pull-apart basin in the middle of the fault, the thickness of the Quaternary system is more than 300m. When the Anqiu-Juxian Fault ruptures to the upper part, it divides into two branches, the east and the west, which are concealed and stand opposite to each other in the shape of “Y”, forming the Anqiu-Juxian Fault. On the east-west boundary of the fault, the latest activity is along the west branch of the fault, which is a Holocene active fault. When it extends to the basement rock mass of the Maling Mountains in the north and south, the depth of the upper fault point gradually becomes shallower until it is exposed.The vertical movement of the Xinyi section of the AJF shows the four quadrants characteristics of uplift and subsidence. The extensional area forms a pull-apart basin, while the compressive area constitutes an uplift. The vertical bedrock offset of the Guanzhuang-Tangdian section, with the maximum vertical offset of~230m, gradually decreases to both sides. It can be concluded that the Xinyi section of the AJF presents a spiral-like pivot movement.
Anqiu-Juxian Fault is an important fault in the Tanlu fault zone, with the highest seismic risk, the most recent activity date, and the most obvious surface traces. Due to lack of credible geological evidences, there is big controversy on the Holocene activity in the Jiangsu segment of this fault. Research on the characteristics of late Quaternary activity in the Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault, particularly its latest activity time, is of great significance to assessment of its earthquake ability and seismic risk. Based on field investigations on the Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault, and combining with the results of fault activities identification on this fault in Suqian City, we discussed the characteristics of its activities in late Quaternary. Multiple geological sections we found in this study and the results of fault activities identification in Suqian City all indicate that there was an ancient seismic event occurring in middle period of Holocene in the segment from southern Maling Mountain to Suqian City; but the trench at Houchen village did not show any evidence of Holocene activity on the Chonggangshan segment of this fault. Based on method of shallow seismic exploration, we carried out a systematic exploration of this fault to get its accurate position and activity characteristics. The results show that Anqiu-Juxian Fault in Suqian City is mainly characterized by dextral strike-slip, associated with both thrusting and extensional movement in different positions. A series of low hills were formed along the fault in the north of Suqian City, and a small graben basin was formed in the south of Suqian City, both are controlled by the dextral strike-slip movement of this fault. The Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault in general is characterized by dextral strike-slip with thrusting movement. But some parts of it are characterized by dextral strike-slip with extensional movement. The Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault experienced a number of activities since the late Quaternary, with an obvious activity in Holocene. The seismic activities of Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault have the characteristic of high intensity and low frequency. Its activities decrease gradually from north to south as a whole.
Running diagonally across the urban area of Xuzhou, the Feihuanghe(the abandoned Yellow River)Fault starts from Jiahezhai in the northwest, extending southeastwards through Sushantou, Xuzhou City and Liangtang along the abandoned Yellow River till the north of Wangji Town of Suining County, striking NWW, dipping SW, with a total length of about 70 kilometers. It is a buried fault, crosscutting Xuzhou-arc structure. There are significant topographic features indicating the existence of the fault on the earth's surface, which are clearly displayed in remote sensing images. There have been no devastating earthquakes occurring along the fault since the recorded history. Feihuanghe Fault is one of the target faults of the project "Urban active fault exploration and seismic risk assessment in Xuzhou City". Few researches have been done on this fault in the past. The previous analysis assumes that the fault is a sinistral transtensional fault with extensional faulting in the Xuzhou-Suzhou arcuate structure at first and transtensional faulting of the Neocathaysian system later. Based on field geological survey, shallow seismic exploration and composite drilling section method, Quaternary activities of Feihuanghe Fault are analyzed. Shallow seismic exploration results show that the Feihuanghe Fault is composed of a NE-trending south branch and a SW-trending north branch, forming a graben structure with the width of 1~2km. All breakpoints of the Feihuanghe Fault on the seismic exploration profiles show that only the bedrock surface was dislocated, not the interior strata of the Quaternary. The composite drilling profiling results show that Feihuanghe Fault has dislocated the strata of Mid Pleistocene, but not the top surface of Mid Pleistocene. Furthermore, we discovered a secondary fault of Feihuanghe Fault exposed at Fengshan Hill, and its latest activity date is the mid period of Mid-Pleistocene inferred from the cementation degree of gouge, dating results and geomorphic features. Combining the above results, we conclude that Feihuanghe Fault is of sinistral strike-slip in the early stage, and extensional faulting since the Quaternary, and the latest activity date is the middle period of Mid Pleistocene. Controlled by the tectonic setting, the activities of the NW-trending faults in Xuzhou area are significantly weaker than that of the NW-trending fault in adjacent southwest Shandong.