Paleoseismic events and ages revealed by the Lianhuashan trench in the western section of the Tuyouqi of the Daqingshan piedmont fault

Abstract

Daqingshan piedmont fault is located in the northern margin of Hetao basin and has been active strongly since the Late Quaternary. Previous researchers had conducted extensive research on the characteristics of paleoseismic in this area, but limited by the dating techniques and the fact that there were fewer data available on the same fault profile that can effectively constrain paleoseismic events, and fewer profiles that can reveal more paleoseismic events. This paper explores the excavation of an paleoseismic trench on the east side of Lianhuashan in the western section of Tuyouqi of the Daqingshan piedmont fault, using Optically Stimulated Luminescence data, and combineing with the age data of previous exploration trenches. By using the fault successive limit method, it is found that the western section of the Tuyouqi fault has experienced five paleoseismic events approximately 11500 years ago, with an average recurrence interval of 2260 years. The five paleoseismic events in this section of the fault, from new to old, are 1.28 to 1.42 ka, 3.41 to 3.60 ka, 4.08 to 5.01 ka, 8.26 to 9.32 ka, and 10.70 to 11.30 ka, respectively. The latest event of activity should be the earthquake of 849 AD. Meanwhile, the trench exploration revealed that the fault in this section exhibits a normal fault nature, with an inclination angle between 58 and 77 degrees. According to empirical formula, the potential seismic capacity of the Baotou section, the western section of Tuyouqi, and the western section of Tuzuoqi are around MW6.8～7.1, MW6.8～7.1 and MW7.1～7.2, respectively. The magnitude obtained by the empirical formula in this paper is relatively small, and there may be cascade rupture. In the later stage, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the risk of the western section of Daqingshan piedmont fault combined with other means.

Keywords

• daqingshan piedmont fault
• western section of tuyouqi
• lianhuashan
• paleoseismic trench
• recurrence interval
• normal fault