Running across the east of Zhenjiang city, the Wufengshan-Xilaiqiao Fault and Dantu-Jianshan Fault are two important NW-trending faults in Zhenjiang area. They controlled the Cretaceous stratigraphic deposition and Mesozoic volcanic activities, and also have obvious control effects on modern geomorphology and Quaternary stratigraphic distribution.
There have been many destructive earthquakes in Zhenjiang area, most of which occurred at the intersection of NW-trending faults and near EW faults. It is of great significance to study the nature, characteristics and the latest active age of the NW-trending faults in Zhenjiang area for the prevention and reduction of earthquake disaster in Zhenjiang City, but the past targeted research work and the knowledge of activity of the faults are very limited. Based on the project of “Urban active fault exploration and seismic risk assessment in Zhenjiang City”, a series of shallow seismic exploration work has been carried out on the two major NW-trending faults in Zhenjiang area, and representative points were selected to carry out drilling joint profiling to study the Quaternary activity characteristics of these two faults. The results are of great significance for urban earthquake disaster reduction, urban planning and land use.
The results of shallow seismic exploration show that the Wufengshan-Xilaiqiao Fault is dominated by normal faulting, dipping to the northeast, with a dip angle of about 60° and a displacement of 5~9m on the bedrock surface. The Dantu-Jianshan Fault is dominated by normal faulting, dipping to the southwest, with a dip angle of about 50°~55° and a displacement of 2~7m on the bedrock surface. All breakpoints of Wufengshan-Xilaiqiao Fault and Dantu-Jianshan Fault reveal that only the bedrock surface was dislocated, not the interior stratum of Quaternary.
On the Dalu site, there is no sign of dislocation in the stratum above the Middle Pleistocene, and the bottom boundary of the Middle Pleistocene has been dislocated, with a displacement of 2m. The dislocation of the bottom boundary of the lower Pleistocene is 3.2m on both sides of the fault, and the maximum displacement of the bedrock surface is 9.1m. The characteristics of the fault surface developed in the drill cores indicate that the latest activity of the fault is of sinistral normal faulting. According to the characteristics of dislocated stratum, the latest active age of Wufengshan-Xilaiqiao Fault is early Middle Pleistocene. On the Fangxian site, there is no sign of fault in the stratum above the Middle Pleistocene, and the bottom of the Middle Pleistocene may be affected by the fault. The displacement of the bottom boundary of Baishan Formation on both sides of the fault is 2m, and the maximum displacement of the bedrock surface is 6.7m. Due to the insufficient evidence of dislocation of Baishan Formation, the latest active age of Dantu-Jianshan Fault is estimated to be between early Pleistocene and early Middle Pleistocene.
The NW-trending Su-Xi-Chang Fault is an important regional fault in the Yangtze River Delta region. Its latest active age is the early Middle Pleistocene, and the displacement in the Quaternary is about 3m. The Wufengshan-Xilaiqiao Fault and the Dantu-Jianshan Fault can be regarded as spatial extension of the Su-Xi-Chang Fault to the northwest, and their activities are also consistent. This study shows that the two NW-trending faults in the Zhenjiang area have significant activity since the Quaternary, and are the main faults with relatively high earthquake risk in this area. Therefore, the intersection of these two faults with EW-trending faults and NE-trending faults should be the focus of attention for earthquake damage prevention in the Zhenjiang area.
The bedrock depth in the Zhenjiang area is relatively shallow, and the stratification difference within the cover layer is small, resulting in an unsatisfactory effect by the geophysical exploration methods. The Lower Pleistocene of the Quaternary system is basically missing, and the boundaries of the Middle and Upper Pleistocene are difficult to distinguish. Developed mainly in the bedrock and the bottom of the Quaternary, the stratum displacement is difficult to judge whether it was caused by sedimentary difference or fault activity. Therefore, the quantitative study of fault activity in this paper is still insufficient.

Running across the urban areas of Changzhou, Wuxi and Suzhou, the NW-trending Su-Xi-Chang Fault is an important buried fault in Yangtze River Delta. In the respect of structural geomorphology, hilly landform is developed along the southwest side of the Su-Xi-Chang Fault, and a series of lakes and relatively low-lying depressions are developed on its northeast side, which is an important landform and neotectonic boundary line. The fault controlled the Jurassic and Cretaceous stratigraphic sedimentary and Cenozoic volcanic activities, and also has obvious control effects on the modern geomorphology and Quaternary stratigraphic distribution.
Su-Xi-Chang Fault is one of the target faults of the project "Urban active fault exploration and seismic risk assessment in Changzhou City" and "Urban active fault exploration and seismic risk assessment in Suzhou City". Hidden in the ground with thick cover layer, few researches have been done on this fault in the past. The study on the activity characteristics and the latest activity era of the Su-Xi-Chang Fault is of great significance for the prevention and reduction of earthquake disaster losses caused by the destructive earthquakes to the cities of Changzhou, Wuxi and Suzhou.
Based on shallow seismic exploration and drilling joint profiling method, Quaternary activities and distribution characteristics of the Su-Xi-Chang Fault are analyzed systematically. Shallow seismic exploration results show that the south branch of the Su-Xi-Chang Fault in Suzhou area is dominated by normal faulting, dipping to the north-east, with a dip angle of about 60° and a displacement of 3~5m on the bedrock surface. The north branch of the Su-Xi-Chang Fault in Changzhou area is dominated by normal faulting, dipping to the south, with a dip angle of about 55°~70° and a displacement of 4~12m on the bedrock surface. All breakpoints of Su-Xi-Chang Fault on the seismic exploration profiles show that only the bedrock surface was dislocated, not the interior strata of the Quaternary.
On the drilling joint profile in the Dongqiao site of Suzhou, the latest activity of the south branch of Su-Xi-Chang Fault is manifested as reverse faulting, with maximum displacement of 2.9m in the upper part of Lower Pleistocene, and the Middle Pleistocene has not been dislocated by the fault. The fault acts as normal fault in the Pre-Quaternary strata, with a displacement of 3.7m in the Neogene stratum. On the drilling joint profile in the Chaoyang Road site of Changzhou, the latest activity of the north branch of Su-Xi-Chang Fault is manifested as reverse faulting too, with maximum displacement of 2.8m in the bottom layer of the Middle Pleistocene. The fault acts as normal fault in the Pre-Quaternary strata, with a displacement of 10.2m in the bedrock surface.
Combining the above results, we conclude that the latest activity era of Su-Xi-Chang Fault is early Middle Pleistocene. The Su-Xi-Chang Fault was dominated by the sinistral normal faulting in the pre-Quaternary period, and turned into sinistral reverse faulting after the early Pleistocene, with displacement of about 3m in the Quaternary strata. The maximum magnitude of potential earthquake on the Su-Xi-Chang Fault is estimated to be 6.0.

Anqiu-Juxian Fault is an important fault in the Tanlu fault zone, with the largest seismic risk, the most recent activity date and the most obvious surface traces. It is also the seismogenic fault of the Tancheng M8 1/2 earthquake in 1668. There are many different views about the southern termination location of surface rupture of the Tancheng earthquake and the Holocene activity in Jiangsu segment of this fault. Research on the latest activity time of the Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault, particularly the termination location of surface rupture of the Tancheng earthquake, is of great significance to the assessment of its earthquake potential and seismic risk.
Based on trench excavation on the Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault, we discuss the time and characteristics of its latest activity. Multiple geological sections from southern Maling Mountain to Chonggang Mountain indicate that there was an ancient seismic event occurring in Holocene on the Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault. We suggest the time of the latest seismic event is about(4.853±0.012)~(2.92±0.3)ka BP by dating results. The latest activity is characterized by thrust strike-slip faulting, with the maximum displacement of 1m. Combined with the fault rupture characteristics of each section, it is inferred that only one large-scale paleo-earthquake event occurred on the Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault since the Holocene.
The upper parts of the fault are covered by horizontal sand layers, not only on the trench in the west of Chonggang mountain but also on the trench in Hehuan Road in Suqian city, which indicates that the main part of the Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault was probably not the surface rupture zone of the 1668 Tancheng M8 1/2 earthquake.
In short, the Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault has experienced many paleo-earthquake events since the late Pleistocene, with obvious activity during the Holocene. The seismic activities of the Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault have the characteristics of large magnitude and low frequency. The Jiangsu segment of Anqiu-Juxian Fault has the deep tectonic and seismic-geological backgrounds of big earthquakes generation and should be highly valued by scientists.

Constraints provided by field observation, laboratory experiments and seismic data have lead to a general consensus that the shallow crust deforms by brittle faulting, while the lower crust deforms by crystal plastic flow. These constraints provide the basis for the dual mechanism model for the rheology of the crust and lithosphere in which the strength of the upper brittle crust is limited by Byerlee's law, while the strength of the lower ductile crust is limited by power law creep. The maximum depth of microseismic activity is controlled by the broad zone of brittle-plastic transition that lies between the two extreme brittle and plastic layers. While the dual mechanism model is so simple that overestimates the strength of rocks near the brittle-plastic transition zone. Although many studies about the deformation mechanism of brittle-plastic transition zone have been made, a 'flow law' representation, which can describe the strength for the brittle-plastic transition, has not been formulated, and there has been little research about fluid effects; In addition, research on brittle-plastic transition usually focuses on temperature effects, while the research on the aspects of strain rate and fluid are relatively weak. Studies of deformation mechanisms of minerals in faults have indicated that brittle-plastic transition of some faults occurred in the same depth (temperature and pressure) and this phenomenon, which has been considered to be relevant to synseismic loading and postseismic creep in earthquake cycles and confirmed by distribution of focal depth, is due to the strain rate. The presence of high-pressure fluid in active fault at depth is proved by analysis of characteristics of fault fluids, and these fluids, which can evolve in pressure pertaining to fracturing and sealing processes, play a key role during the seismic cycle. The formation of high-pressure fluid (cracks sealing) has several mechanisms, but researches show pressure solution deposition is one of the main mechanisms which controls crack sealing kinetics around active faults. Studies on pressure solution under the action of water can supplement and correct the crustal strength profile defined by traditional relations describing brittle/frictional behavior (Byerlee's law) and dislocation creep. As a consequence, we believe it is necessary to further study the impact of strain rate and fluid pressure on the brittle-plastic transition through deformation samples both from field and high-pressure high-temperature experiments. Simultaneously, we may establish the equation for the pressure solution to approximately estimate the strength of brittle-plastic transition zone.