Re-measured GPS data have recently revealed that a broad NE trending dextral shear zone exists in the eastern Bayan Har block about 200 km northwest of the Longmenshan thrust on the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet...Re-measured GPS data have recently revealed that a broad NE trending dextral shear zone exists in the eastern Bayan Har block about 200 km northwest of the Longmenshan thrust on the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The strain rate along this shear zone may reach up to 4-6 mm/a. Our interpretation of satellite images and field observations indicate that this dextral shear zone corresponds to a newly generated NE trending Longriba fault zone that has been ignored before. The northeast segment of the Longriba fault zone consists of two subparallel N54°±5°E trending branch faults about 30 km apart, and late Quaternary offset landforms are well developed along the strands of these two branch faults. The northern branch fault, the Longriqu fault, has relatively large reverse component, while the southern branch fault, the Maoergai fault, is a pure right-lateral strike slip fault. According to vector synthesizing principle, the average right-lateral strike slip rate along the Longriba fault zone in the late Quaternary is calculated to be 5.4±2.0 mm/a, the vertical slip rate to be 0.7 mm/a, and the rate of crustal shortening to be 0.55 mm/a. The discovery of the Longriba fault zone may provide a new insight into the tectonics and dynamics of the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Taken the Longriba fault zone as a boundary, the Bayan Har block is divided into two sub-blocks: the Ahba sub-block in the west and the Longmenshan sub-block in the east. The shortening and uplifting of the Longmenshan sub-block as a whole reflects that both the Longmenshan thrust and Longriba fault zone are subordinated to a back propagated nappe tectonic system that was formed during the southeastward motion of the Bayan Har block owing to intense resistance of the South China block. This nappe tectonic system has become a boundary tectonic type of an active block supporting crustal deformation along the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from late Cenozoic till now. The Longriba fault zone is just an active 展开更多
An enormous thrust nappe and a metamorphic core complex of extensional origin have been recently discovered within the Hercynian-Indosinian orogen of Inner Mongolia. Both features are of the Mesozoic age, but the form...An enormous thrust nappe and a metamorphic core complex of extensional origin have been recently discovered within the Hercynian-Indosinian orogen of Inner Mongolia. Both features are of the Mesozoic age, but the former is older. The thrust nappe strikes WNW-ESE and Proterozoic dolomite was thrust southwards atop strata ranging from the Cambrian to the Triassic in age. The visible displacement of the thrust is ca. 70 km and the deduced one is over 140 km. The metamorphic core complex (mainly mylonites) extends in an N-E direction, forming itself into a dome geometry and lying under an extensional detachment fault. The mylonitic foliation dips gently and the stretching mineral lineation, as a whole, plunges SSE. Various shear sense markers show a normal-sense shear movement. Some significant problems atise from the coexistence of nappe and extensional structures at a postoro-genic stage.展开更多
基金the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2004CB418401)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40474037)
文摘Re-measured GPS data have recently revealed that a broad NE trending dextral shear zone exists in the eastern Bayan Har block about 200 km northwest of the Longmenshan thrust on the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The strain rate along this shear zone may reach up to 4-6 mm/a. Our interpretation of satellite images and field observations indicate that this dextral shear zone corresponds to a newly generated NE trending Longriba fault zone that has been ignored before. The northeast segment of the Longriba fault zone consists of two subparallel N54°±5°E trending branch faults about 30 km apart, and late Quaternary offset landforms are well developed along the strands of these two branch faults. The northern branch fault, the Longriqu fault, has relatively large reverse component, while the southern branch fault, the Maoergai fault, is a pure right-lateral strike slip fault. According to vector synthesizing principle, the average right-lateral strike slip rate along the Longriba fault zone in the late Quaternary is calculated to be 5.4±2.0 mm/a, the vertical slip rate to be 0.7 mm/a, and the rate of crustal shortening to be 0.55 mm/a. The discovery of the Longriba fault zone may provide a new insight into the tectonics and dynamics of the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Taken the Longriba fault zone as a boundary, the Bayan Har block is divided into two sub-blocks: the Ahba sub-block in the west and the Longmenshan sub-block in the east. The shortening and uplifting of the Longmenshan sub-block as a whole reflects that both the Longmenshan thrust and Longriba fault zone are subordinated to a back propagated nappe tectonic system that was formed during the southeastward motion of the Bayan Har block owing to intense resistance of the South China block. This nappe tectonic system has become a boundary tectonic type of an active block supporting crustal deformation along the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from late Cenozoic till now. The Longriba fault zone is just an active
文摘An enormous thrust nappe and a metamorphic core complex of extensional origin have been recently discovered within the Hercynian-Indosinian orogen of Inner Mongolia. Both features are of the Mesozoic age, but the former is older. The thrust nappe strikes WNW-ESE and Proterozoic dolomite was thrust southwards atop strata ranging from the Cambrian to the Triassic in age. The visible displacement of the thrust is ca. 70 km and the deduced one is over 140 km. The metamorphic core complex (mainly mylonites) extends in an N-E direction, forming itself into a dome geometry and lying under an extensional detachment fault. The mylonitic foliation dips gently and the stretching mineral lineation, as a whole, plunges SSE. Various shear sense markers show a normal-sense shear movement. Some significant problems atise from the coexistence of nappe and extensional structures at a postoro-genic stage.
