Table of Content

20 October 2019, Volume 41 Issue 5

Previous Issue    Next Issue

Research Paper

ANALYSIS OF EVOLUTION OF THE RIYUESHAN FAULT SINCE LATE PLEISTOCENE USING STRUCTURAL GEOMORPHOLOGY

LI Zhi-min, LI Wen-qiao, YIN Xiang, HUANG Shuai-tang, ZHANG Jun-long

2019, 41(5):  1077-1090.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-4967.2019.05.001

Asbtract ( )   HTML   PDF (7655KB) ( )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

The northeastern margin of Tibetan plateau is an active block controlled by the eastern Kunlun fault zone, the Qilian Shan-Haiyuan fault zone, and the Altyn Tagh fault zone. It is the frontier and the sensitive area of neotectonic activity since the Cenozoic. There are widespread folds, thrust faults and stike-slip faults in the northeastern Tibetan plateau produced by the intensive tectonic deformation, indicating that this area is suffering the crustal shortening, left-lateral shear and vertical uplift. The Riyueshan Fault is one of the major faults in the dextral strike-slip faults systems, which lies between the two major large-scale left-lateral strike-slip faults, the Qilian-Haiyuan Fault and the eastern Kunlun Fault. In the process of growing and expanding of the entire Tibetan plateau, the dextral strike-slip faults play an important role in regulating the deformation and transformation between the secondary blocks. In the early Quaternary, because of the northeastward expansion of the northeastern Tibetan plateau, tectonic deformations such as NE-direction extrusion shortening, clockwise rotation, and SEE-direction extrusion occurred in the northeastern margin of the Tibetan plateau, which lead to the left-lateral slip movement of the NWW-trending major regional boundary faults. As the result, the NNW-trending faults which lie between these NWW direction faults are developed. The main geomorphic units developed within the research area are controlled by the Riyueshan Fault, formed due to the northeastward motion of the Tibet block. These geomorphic units could be classified as:Qinghai Lake Basin, Haiyan Basin, Datonghe Basin, Dezhou Basin, and the mountains developed between the basins such as the Datongshan and the Riyueshan. Paleo basins, alluvial fans, multiple levels of terraces are developed at mountain fronts. The climate variation caused the formation of the geomorphic units during the expansion period of the lakes within the northeastern Tibetan plateau. There are two levels of alluvial fans and three levels of fluvial terrace developed in the study area, the sediments of the alluvial fans and fluvial terraces formed by different sources are developed in the same period. The Riyueshan Fault connects with the NNW-trending left-lateral strike-slip north marginal Tuoleshan fault in the north, and obliquely connects with the Lajishan thrust fault in the south. The fault extends for about 180km from north to south, passing through Datonghe, Reshui coal mine, Chaka River, Tuole, Ketu and Xicha, and connecting with the Lajishan thrusts near the Kesuer Basin. The Riyueshan Fault consists of five discontinuous right-step en-echelon sub-fault segments, with a spacing of 2~3km, and pull-apart basins are formed in the stepovers.
The Riyueshan Fault is a secondary fault located in the Qaidam-Qilian active block which is controlled by the major boundary faults, such as the East Kunlun Fault and the Qilian-Haiyuan Fault. Its activity characteristics provide information of the outward expansion of the northeastern margin of Tibet. Tectonic landforms are developed along the Riyueshan Fault. Focusing on the distinct geomorphic deformation since late Pleistocene, the paper obtains the vertical displacement along the fault strike by RTK measurement method. Based on the fault growth-linkage theory, the evolution of the Riyueshan Fault and the related kinetic background are discussed. The following three conclusions are obtained:1)According to the characteristics of development of the three-stage 200km-long steep fault scarp developed in the landforms of the late Pleistocene alluvial fans and terraces, the Riyueshan Fault is divided into five segments, with the most important segment located in the third stepover(CD-3); 2)The three-stage displacement distribution pattern of the Riyueshan Fault reveals that the fault was formed by the growths and connections of multiple secondary faults and is in the second stage of fault growth and connection. With CD-3 as the boundary, the faults on the NW side continue to grow and connect; the fault activity time on the SE side is shorter, and the activity intensity is weaker; 3)The extreme value of the fault displacement distribution curve indicates the location of strain concentration and stress accumulation. With the stepover CD-3 as the boundary, the stress and strain on NW side are mainly concentrated in the middle and fault stepovers. The long-term accumulation range of stress on the SE side is relatively dispersed. The stress state may be related to the counterclockwise rotation inside the block under the compression of regional tectonic stress.

EVIDENCES OF THE LATE QUATERNARY ACTIVITY OF THE ANGREN SEGMENT OF THE YARLUNG TSANGPO FAULT ZONE

LI Yan-bao, CHEN Li-chun, WANG Hu, ZENG Di, LIU Cheng-long

2019, 41(5):  1091-1104.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-4967.2019.05.002

Asbtract ( )   HTML   PDF (15231KB) ( )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

The Yarlung Tsangbo fault zone, one of the most important geological interfaces in the Yarlung Tsangbo suture zone which is a huge geotectonic boundary with nearly east-west-trending in southern Tibet Plateau, has undergone a long-term tectonic evolution. Studying this fault zone can help us understand the development and evolution history of the suture zone and the tectonic mechanism of subduction-collision about the Tibet Plateau, so it has always been a hot topic in the field of geology. Most of existing data suggest that the current tectonic activity in southern Tibet is given priority to the rift system with nearly north-south-trending, and the Yarlung Tsangbo fault zone with nearly east-west-trending has relatively weaker activity since late Quaternary. There are only some evidences of Holocene activity found in the Lulang town section near eastern Himalayan syntaxis, and there are few reports about the reliable geological evidences of late Quaternary activity of the section on the west of Milin County of the fault zone.
Based on image interpretation, field investigation and chronological method, we found several fault profiles along the Yarlung Tsangbo fault zone near the Angren Lake in this study. These profiles reveal that loose fault gouge has been developed on the fault plane which nearly extends to the surface and offsets the loess sediments and its overlying alluvial-proluvial gravels. The loess is characterized by coarser grains, higher content of fine sand and tiny small gravels. The results of the two OSL dating samples collected in the loess are(94.68±6.51)ka and(103.84±5.14)ka respectively, showing that the loess revealed at the Angren site should be the middle-late Pleistocene sand loess distributed on the high-terraces along the Yarlung Tsangpo River. Consequently, the Angren segment of the Yarlung Tsangpo fault zone is active since the late Quaternary. In addition, synchronous left-lateral offsets of a series of small gullies and beheaded gullies can be seen near the profiles along the fault, which are the supporting evidence for the late Quaternary activity of the fault.
However, the segment with obvious geomorphology remains is relatively short, and no evidence of late Quaternary activity have been found in other sections on the west of Milin County of the Yarlung Tsangpo fault zone. Existing data show that, in the southern Tibet, a series of near NS-trending rift systems are strongly active since the late Quaternary, cutting almost all of the near east-west-trending tectonic belts including the Yarlung Tsangpo fault zone. In addition, majority of the earthquakes occurring in southern Tibet are related to the NS-trending rift systems. Tectonic images show that the Angren segment locates between the Shenzha-Dingjie rift and the Dangreyong Lake-Gu Lake rift. These two adjacent rifts are special in the rift system in southern Tibet:Firstly, the two rifts are located in the conversion position of the trend of the whole rift system; Secondly, the size of the two rifts varies significantly between the north side and the south side of the Yarlung Tsangbo fault zone. Thirdly, the Shenzha-Dingjie rift seems to be of right-lateral bending, while the Dangreyong Lake-Gu Lake rift shows left-lateral bending. These characteristics may lead to the fact that the amount of absorption and accommodation of the rift activities in the north side of the Yarlung Tsangbo fault zone is larger than that in the south side during the migration of the plateau materials, leading to the differential movement of the block between the two sides of the fault zone. Therefore, the Yarlung Tsangbo fault zone possesses the accommodating tectonic activity, of course, the intensity of this accommodating activity is limited and relatively weaker, which may be the reason why it is difficult to find large-scale tectonic remains characterizing the late Quaternary activity along the fault zone. The scale of the rift system in southern Tibet is systematically different between the two sides of the Yarlung Tsangbo fault zone, so it cannot be ruled out that there are also weak activities similar to the Angren segment in other sections of the fault zone.

TECTONIC CHARACTERISTICS OF BAOTOU UPLIFT IN HETAO DEPRESSION ZONE

LIU Zhi-cheng, GAO Zhan-wu, XU Wei, WANG Ji, WANG Wan-he, WANG Wan-he

2019, 41(5):  1105-1122.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-4967.2019.05.003

Asbtract ( )   HTML   PDF (9802KB) ( )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

The Hetao depression zone, located to the north of Ordos block, is a complex depression basin that consists of two sub-uplifts and three sub-depressions. The depression zone is subject to the regional extensional stress field driven by the Indo-Asian continental collision and the westward subduction of the Pacific Plate. The Baotou uplift that separates the Baiyanhua sub-depression and Huhe sub-depression is mainly composed of Archean gneiss and is overlaid by Quaternary sedimentary strata. The two sub-depressions are bordered by the Wula Mountains and Daqing Mountains to the north, respectively. The bedrock exhumed in Wula Mountains and Daqing Mountains consists mostly of Precambrian granitic gneiss, and the piedmont depressions are infilled by thick Cenozoic strata. The Wulashan piedmont fault and Daqingshan piedmont fault extend along the range front of Wula Mountains and Daqing Mountains, respectively. The subsidence is controlled by the two boundary faults. Previous studies have preliminarily documented the characteristics of the northwest boundary fault of Baotou uplift. Combining shallow seismic exploration, active fault mapping, and geological drilling, this paper presents a detailed study on the tectonic characteristics of the Baotou uplift.
The shallow seismic exploration reveals that the Baotou uplift is an asymmetrical wedge with a steep southeast wing and a gentle dipping northwest wing. The Baotou uplift is wider in the northeastern part and narrows down towards the southwest. In seismic profiles, the Baiyanhua sub-depression and the Huhe sub-depression manifest as asymmetric dustpan-like depressions with south-dipping controlling faults. Baotou uplift is bounded by the Xishawan-Xingsheng Fault to the northwest and Daqingshan piedmont fault to the southeast. The two faults exhibit significant difference in many aspects, such as fault geometry, fault displacement, the latest active time, and so on. The southeast boundary fault of Baotou uplift is the Baotou section of the Daqingshan piedmont fault which is a Holocene active fault and the major boundary fault of Huhe sub-depression. East of Wanshuiquan, the fault strikes EW-NEE; west of Wanshuiquan, the strike changes to NW. The Daqingshan piedmont fault appears as a south-dipping listric fault in seismic profiles whose dip decreases with depth and cuts through all the sedimentary strata in Huhe sub-depression; the fault extends along the late Pleistocene lacustrine platform at surface with prominent geomorphological evidences. The Xishawan-Xingsheng Fault is a buried high-angle normal fault that mainly dips to the northwest and strikes NE. The fault strike changes to NNE at the eastern tip. Based on the results of seismic exploration and geological drilling, the Xishawan-Xingsheng buried fault is an early to middle Pleistocene Fault capped by late Pleistocene lacustrine strata. We reckon that the Xishawan-Xingsheng Fault is one of the synthetic faults that dip towards the main boundary fault of Baiyanhua sub-depression.
Similarities in lithology, geometry, and structural characteristics of south boundary faults all indicate that Baotou uplift is the western extension of Daqing Mountains. Multiple factors may contribute to the formation of Baotou uplift, such as tectonic subsidence and the development of large-scale river system and mega-lake. We suggest that the upwelling of asthenosphere may play a primary role in the evolution of Wulanshan piedmont fault and Daqingshan piedmont fault. Separated by the Baotou uplift, the Wulashan piedmont fault and Daqingshan piedmont fault can be regarded as independent seismogenic faults. The Hetao depression zone is featured by complex inner structures, and many scientific issues are subject to further researches. Thus, more attention should be paid to the secondary structures within the depression zone for a better understanding on the formation and evolution of Hetao depression zone.

POISSON'S RATIO VARIATIONS OF CRUSTAL MEDIA BEFORE AND AFTER XINYUAN-HEJING M_S6.6 EARTHQUAKE IN 2012

TANG Ming-shuai, WANG Hai-tao, WEI Yun-yun, LI Yan-yong, GE Can, WANG Qiong, SU Jin-bo, WEI Bin

2019, 41(5):  1123-1135.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-4967.2019.05.004

Asbtract ( )   HTML   PDF (4008KB) ( )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

We analyzed the variation characteristics of Poisson's ratio in crustal media from January 2009 to December 2012 at 11 fixed seismic stations(for station SCH, it is from January 2006 to December 2012)within an epicenter distance of 200km of the Xinyuan-Hejing M_S6.6 earthquake in Xinjiang on June 30, 2012 using the methods of P wave receiver functions, H-κ stacking of receiver functions, and time sliding window, and obtained the following conclusions:
(1)The crustal media's Poisson ratio of five stations in an epicenter distance less than 130km showed a significant and long-lasting decline about 2~3 years before Xinyuan-Hejing M_S6.6 earthquake. Taking the crustal Poisson ratio mean value as reference, the decrease ranges between 0.003 and 0.014, the decrease in 4 stations are more than twice the mean error. The variations of the Poisson's ratio in crust are characterized by "V" shape or "double V" shape. Earthquakes occur at the end of the formation of "V" shape. After the occurrence of earthquakes, the Poisson's ratio continues to rise. The earliest initial fall appeared in July 2009 at WUS station which has the minimum epicentral distance(77km). The Poisson ratio of the crustal media of 6 stations with epicentral distance more than 150km fluctuated up and down around the mean value, and there is no significant decline or persistent low value.
(2)We analyzed the arrival-time variations of the quasi-repetitive receiver functions Ps converted wave(t_Ps)of the 3 stations WUS, SCH and XNY and found that the travel times of Ps converted waves became smaller in the crust before the earthquake and increased after the earthquake.
(3)Through the comprehensive analysis on the descending process, decline ranges, variations process, duration of Poisson' ratio, the Ps converted waves arrival time variations, the original time of earthquake, and the number of stations, it is inferred that the cause for Poisson's ratio anomalous variations is the change of physical properties of crustal media in the process of earthquake preparation and occurrence. Since the variation characteristics of crustal media may be related to the earthquake magnitude, the size of seismogenic area, the medium properties under stations, and the focal distance, whether the medium variation characteristics exist before and after Xinyuan-Hejing M_S6.6 earthquake will need more earthquake cases analyses.
(4)The H-κ stacking of receiver functions is used to calculate the velocity ratio. Because P-wave velocity is given, this method can only be applied when the Ps converted wave velocity of Moho surface of receiver functions changes before an earthquake. With the application of receiver functions to the analysis of more earthquake cases, we can gain more insights into the variation of crustal medium parameters during the seismogenic process. This observation indicates that the receiver function method may become a new approach to detect the Poisson's ratio change of the crustal media before strong earthquake under the condition of high seismic network density.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SATELLITE GRAVITY FIELD AND SEISMOGENIC MECHANISM IN THE LONGMENSHAN FAULT ZONE

TANG Jing-tian, YANG Lei, REN Zheng-yong, HU Shuang-gui, XU Zhi-min

2019, 41(5):  1136-1154.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-4967.2019.05.005

Asbtract ( )   HTML   PDF (11598KB) ( )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Longmenshan fault zone is a famous orogenic belt and seismic zone in the southeastern Tibetan plateau of China. The Wenchuan M_S8.0 earthquake on May 12, 2008 and the Ya'an M_S7.0 earthquake on April 20, 2013 occurred in the central-southern part of Longmenshan fault zone. Because of its complex geological structures, frequent earthquakes and special geographical locations, it has attracted the attention of many scholars around the world. Satellite gravity field has advantages in studying gravity field and gravity anomaly changes before and after earthquake. It covers wide range, can be updated regularly, without difficulty in terms of geographical restrictions, and is not affected by environmental factors such as weather, terrain and traffic. Therefore, the use of high-precision Earth satellite gravity field data inversion and interpretation of seismic phenomena has become a hot topic in earth science research. In order to understand satellite gravity field characteristics of the Longmenshan earthquake zone in the southeastern Tibetan plateau and its seismogenic mechanism of earthquake disasters, the satellite gravity data was used to present the terrain information of the study area. Then, by solving the regional gravity anomaly of the Moho surface, the crustal thickness of the study area was inverted, and the GPS velocity field data was used to detect the crustal deformation rate and direction of the study area. Combining the tectonic setting of the Longmenshan fault zone and the existing deep seismic sounding results of the previous researchers, the dynamic characteristics of the gravity time-varying field after the earthquake in the Longmenshan earthquake zone was analyzed and the mechanism of the earthquake was explored. The results show that the eastward flow of deep materials in the eastern Tibetan plateau is strongly blocked at the Longmenshan fault zone. The continuous collision and extrusion process result in a "deep drop zone" in the Moho surface, and the long-term stress effect is conducive to the formation of thrust-nappe and strike-slip structures. The Longmenshan earthquake zone was in the large-scale gradient zone of gravity change before the earthquake, the deep plastic fluid material transport velocity differed greatly, the fluid pressure was enhanced, and the rock mechanical strength in the seismic source region was weakened, which contributed to the intrusion of crustal fluid and the upwelling of the asthenosphere. As a result, the continuous accumulation of material and energy eventually led to continuous stress imbalance in the deep part and shear rupture of the deep weak structure, causing the occurrence of the thrust-nappe and strike-slip earthquake.

CHARACTERISTICS OF FOCAL MECHANISMS IN THE DOWNSTREAM RESERVOIR AREAS OF JINSHA RIVER

DUAN Meng-qiao, ZHAO Cui-ping

2019, 41(5):  1155-1171.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-4967.2019.05.006

Asbtract ( )   HTML   PDF (12878KB) ( )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

We select the Xiluodu-Wudongde reservoir area in the downstream of Jinsha River as the research area, and use the CAP and GPAT method to obtain focal mechanisms of M_L ≥ 2.0 earthquakes from 2016 to 2017 in this region. Then, we analyze the spatial distribution characteristics of focal mechanism solutions in each local region and investigate the relationship between seismicity and regional structures. According to 414 focal mechanism solutions we get following conclusions:1)The Xiluodu dam began to impound water on May 4, 2013, and seismicity increased significantly after impoundment. We get 49 focal mechanisms in the Xiluodu dam and its adjacent area which are dominated by thrust faulting and next by strike-slip faulting, which are mainly distributed near the middle section of the Ebian-Jinyang fault zone. The distribution of nodal planes striking in NNW to NE direction is consistent with that of regional faults, and some large earthquakes are controlled by regional structures. 2)There are 39 and 24 focal mechanisms obtained in the unimpounded Baihetan and Wudongde dams and adjacent areas, and the spatial distribution of focal mechanism solutions are relatively consistent, dominated by strike-slip faulting with a small amount of thrust and normal faulting. The sinistral strike-slip earthquakes are consistent with the activity of Xiaojiang fault zone and Puduhe-Xishan Fault. The strikes of the nodal planes are distributed discretely, and many groups of faults intersect with each other in the area, suggesting that the seismogenic environment is relatively complex. 3)The seismicity in Ludian continues to be active after the Ludian M6.5 earthquake. By the end of 2017, we got 260 focal mechanism solutions in the aftershock area of the Ludian M_S6.5 earthquake of Aug 3rd, 2014, which show an "L-shape" in distribution and are dominated by thrust and strike-slip faulting. The long axis is distributed in EW direction, and the short axis is distributed in near NNW direction. The strikes of nodal planes are mainly near EW and near NE, and the nodal planes in the NW direction are less. According to characteristics of a large number of focal mechanism solutions, we deduce that there may exist a buried structure in the EW direction, the seismicity is controlled by different types of faults and the seismogenic structure is very complex. 4)The centroid depth in each region is concentrated in the range of 5~15km, indicating that the seismogenic layer in the study area is 5~15km deep in the middle and upper crust.

RESEARCH ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF QUATERNARY ACTIVITIES OF SU-XI-CHANG FAULT

ZHANG Peng, ZHANG Yuan-yuan, XU Han-gang, LIU Jian-da, CHEN Jian-qiang, LI Li-mei, LI Jin-liang, GU Qin-ping, JIANG Xin

2019, 41(5):  1172-1184.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-4967.2019.05.007

Asbtract ( )   HTML   PDF (6456KB) ( )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

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.

JOINT INVERSION OF AMBIENT NOISE AND SURFACE WAVE FOR S-WAVE VELOCITY OF THE CRUST AND UPPERMOST MANTLE BENEATH WEIHE BASIN AND ITS ADJACENT AREA

FENG Hong-wu, YAN Wen-hua, YAN Shan, GUO Ying-xia, HUI Shao-xing, CHANG Cheng

2019, 41(5):  1185-1205.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-4967.2019.05.008

Asbtract ( )   HTML   PDF (9051KB) ( )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

The Weihe Basin is the main component of the extrusion and escape shear zone between the ancient North China craton block in Ordos and the ancient Yangtze platform in Sichuan Basin, and carries the dynamic transmission from the main power source of the Qinghai-Tibet Block in the west to the North China and South China regions in the east. The basin itself plays multi roles in the east-west and north-south tectonic movement, and is an excellent site for studying the structural interlacing, dynamic transformation and transmission. At the same time, Weihe Basin is also a famous strong earthquake zone in China. Historically, there was a strong earthquake of magnitude 8 1/4 occurring in Huaxian County in 1556, causing huge casualties and property losses. In view of the special geological structures and the characteristics of modern seismicity activities in the Weihe fault-depression zone, it is necessary to carry out fine three-dimensional velocity structure detection in the deep part of Weihe Basin and its adjacent areas, so as to study the relationship between velocity structure and geological structural units and their evolution process, as well as the deep medium environment where earth￣quakes develop and occur.
We investigate the S-wave velocity structure beneath Weihe Basin and its adjacent regions based on continuous background noise data and teleseismic data recorded by 257 broadband stations in Shaanxi Province and its adjacent regions and China Seismological Science Array Exploration Project, and by adopting seismic surface wave inter-station method and background noise cross-correlation method, a total of 10 049 fundamental-mode Rayleigh surface wave phase velocity dispersion curves in the periods of 5~70s are obtained. Firstly, using the average dispersion curve in this study area, we obtain the one-dimensional average S-wave velocity structure model of the study area, and then we apply the ray-tracing surface-wave-dispersion direct inversion method to obtain the S-wave velocity structure of the crust and uppermost mantle (3~80km) beneath Weihe Basin and its adjacent regions. The test results of a 1°×1° grid checker board show that the recovery is good, except for the areas east of 111° and south of 32° of the study area, where there is almost no resolution. The imaging results show that the velocity structure beneath each tectonic unit in the study area has a certain distribution rule, and there is a good correlation between surface geological structure and deep velocity structure.
Based on the analysis of velocity slices at different depths and S-wave velocity structures of three profiles, and combined with existing geological structures, geophysics and other deep exploration research results, we obtain the following knowledge and conclusions:1)The thick sedimentary layer covering the top of Weihe Basin is the cause of low velocity anomaly in its shallow crust, the middle and upper crust of the basin are of low velocity structure, and the low-velocity zone extends about 25km, the Moho interface uplifts abruptly relative to both the Ordos Block and the Qinling orogenic belt on opposite sides, and high-speed materials from the upper mantle intrude into the lower crust, which may be related to the underplating of mafic-ultramafic materials from the upper mantle in Mesozoic-Cenozoic period; 2)The south Ordos Block is not a homogeneous whole, the low-velocity structure of the shallow crust in southern Ordos Block is thin in east and thick in west, which may be related to the overall tilting of the Ordos Basin since the Phanerozoic, as well as the differential uplift and strong and uneven denudation of the Ordos Block since the Late Cretaceous. The crustal structure of the south Ordos Block is relatively simple and homogeneous. There is no significant low-velocity structure in the curst of the block, which shows that the low-velocity structure in the crust does not penetrate the whole Ordos block. We speculate that the southern Ordos Block still maintains the stable craton property, and has not been reformed significantly so far; 3)The variation characteristics of deep structure of the Qinling orogenic belt reflect the deep crustal structure and tectonic deformation characteristics of the orogenic belt which are strongly reformed by land-land collision and suture between North China plate and Yangtze plate, intracontinental orogeny, uplift of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its northeastern expansion since the Late Hercynian-Indosinian period. The deep structure beneath the eastern and western Qinling orogenic belt is different and has the characteristics of segmentation. The low-velocity anomaly at the bottom of the lower crust of the orogenic belt may be affected by tectonic activities such as uplift and outward extension of the NE Tibetan plateau, and the analysis considers that there is little possibility of the existence of lower crustal circulation channel for the eastward flowing of Tibetan plateau materials in the Qinling orogenic belt. However, since the maximum depth from the inversion of this paper is 80km, which is located at the top of the upper mantle, our results cannot prove that there exists a mantle flow channel for the eastward flow of Tibetan plateau material beneath the Qinling orogenic belt.

THE 3-D VELOCITY STRUCTURE OF CRUST AND UPPERMOST MANTLE AND ITS TECTONIC IMPLICATIONS IN FUJIAN PROVINCE

LI Xi-bing, XIONG Zhen, FAN Xiao-ping, TAO Xiao-san, PENG Xiao-bo

2019, 41(5):  1206-1222.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-4967.2019.05.009

Asbtract ( )   HTML   PDF (11569KB) ( )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

It is important to detect the fine velocity structures of the crust and uppermost mantle to understand the regional tectonic evolution, earthquake generation processes, and to conduct earthquake risk assessment. The inversion of uppermost mantle velocity and Moho depth are strongly influenced by crustal velocity heterogeneity. In this study, we collected first arrivals of Pg and Pn and secondary arrivals of Pg wave from the seismograms recorded at Fujian provincial seismic network stations. New 3-D P-wave velocities were inverted by multi-phase joint inversion method in Fujian Province. Our results show that the fault zones in Fujian Province have various velocity patterns. The shallow crust is characterized by high velocity that represents mountains, while the mid-lower crust shows low velocities. The anomalous velocities are correlated closely with tectonic faults in Fujian Province. Velocity anomalies mainly show NE-trending distribution, especially in the mid-lower crust and uppermost mantle, which is consistent with the NE-trending of the regional main fault zones. Meanwhile, a part of velocity patterns show NW trending, which is related to the secondary NW-oriented faults. Such velocity distribution also shows a geological structural pattern of "zoning in east-west direction and blocking in north-south direction" in Fujian area.
In the crust, a low velocity zone is found along Zhenghe-Dapu fault zone as mentioned by previous study, however our result shows the low velocity exists at depth of 20~30km in mid-lower crust. Compared with previous study, this low velocity zone is larger and deeper both in range and depth.
The crustal thickness of 28~35km from our joint inversion is similar to the results from the receiver functions of previous studies. The thinnest crust(28km)is observed at offshore in the north of Quanzhou; while the thickest crust(35km)is located west of Zhangzhou near the Zhenghe-Dapu fault zone. Generally, thinner crustal thickness is found in offshore of Fujian Province, and thicker crustal thickness is in the mainland. However, we also found that crustal thickness becomes thinner along the east side of Yongan-Jinjiang Fault.
The values of Pn velocities in the region vary from 7.71 to 8.26km/s. The velocity distribution of the uppermost mantle presents a large inhomogeneity, which is correlated with the distribution of the fault zone. High Pn velocity anomalies are found mainly along the west side of the Zhenghe-Dapu fault zone(F₂), and the east side of the Shaowu-Heyuan fault zone(F₁), which is strip-shaped throughout the central part of Fujian. Low Pn velocity anomalies are observed along the coast and Taiwan Straits, including the Changle-Zhaoan fault zone, the coastal fault zone, and the Fuzhou Basin. We also found a low Pn velocity anomaly zone, which extends to the coast, in the Shaowu-Heyuan fault zone at the junction of the Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi Provinces. In the west of Taiwan Straits, both high and low Pn velocity anomalies are observed.
Our results show that the historical strong earthquakes(larger than magnitude 6.0) are mainly distributed between positive and negative anomaly zones at different depth profiles of the crust, and similar anomalies distribution also exists at the uppermost mantle, suggesting that the occurrence of strong earthquakes in the region is not only related to the anomalous crustal velocity structure, but also affected by the velocity anomaly structure from the uppermost mantle.

THE SOURCE PARAMETERS AND RUPTURE PROCESS OF THE M_W7.0 EARTHQUAKE IN ALASKA, USA ON DECEMBER 1, 2018

XU Zhi-guo, ZHANG Huai, ZHOU Yuan-ze, LIANG Shan-shan, SU Zhe, SHI Jian-yu, ZHAO-Bo

2019, 41(5):  1223-1238.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-4967.2019.05.010

Asbtract ( )   HTML   PDF (9412KB) ( )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

A magnitude M_W7.0 earthquake struck north of Anchorage, Alaska, USA on 1 December 2018. This earthquake occurred in the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone, on a fault within the subducting Pacific slab rather than on the shallower boundary between the Pacific and North American plates. In order to better understand the earthquake source characteristics and slip distribution of source rupture process as well as to explore the effect of tectonic environment on dynamic triggering of earthquake, the faulting geometry, slip distribution, seismic moment, source time function are estimated from broadband waveforms downloaded from IRIS Data Management Center. We use the regional broadband waveforms to infer the source parameters with ISOLA package and the teleseismic body wave recorded by stations of the Global Seismic Network is employed to conduct slip distribution inversion with iterative deconvolution method. The focal mechanism solution indicates that the Alaska earthquake occurred as the result of tensile-type normal faulting, the estimated centroid depth from waveform inversion shows that the earthquake occurred at the depth of 56.5km, and the centroid location is 10km far away in northeast direction relative to the location of initial epicenter. We use the aftershock distribution to constrain the fault-plane strike of a normal fault to set up the finite fault model, the finite fault inversion shows that the earthquake slip distribution is concentrated mainly on a rectangular area with 30km×20km, and the maximum slip is up to 3.6m. In addition, the slip distribution shows an asymmetrical distribution and the range of possible rupture direction, the direction of rupture extends to the northeast direction, which is same as that of aftershock distribution for a period of ten days after the mainshock. It is interesting to note that a seismic gap appears in the southwest of the seismogenic fault, we initially determined that the earthquake was a typical normal fault-type earthquake that occurred in the back-arc extensional environment of the subduction collision zone between the Pacific plate and the North American plate, this earthquake was not related to tectonic movement of faults near the Earth's surface. Due to the influence of high temperature and pressure during the subduction of the Pacific plate toward to the north, the subduction angle of the Pacific plate becomes steep, causing consequently the backward bending deformation, thus forming to a tensile environment at the trailing edge of the collision zone and generating the M_W7.0 earthquake in Alaska.

STUDY ON THE ELECTRICAL STRUCTURE OF THE ANQIU AND JUXIAN ELECTROMAGNETIC STATIONS IN THE TANLU FAULT ZONE

ZHANG Ji-hong, ZHAO Guo-ze, DONG Ze-yi, WANG Li-feng, HAN Bing, WANG Qing-lin, TANG Ting-mei, WANF Mei

2019, 41(5):  1239-1253.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-4967.2019.05.011

Asbtract ( )   HTML   PDF (4756KB) ( )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

The Yishu fault zone is one of the branch faults of the Tanlu fault zone in its central part. Moderate and strong earthquakes occurred in the Yishu fault zone repeatedly. Due to its complex structure, the Yishu fault zone attracts much attention from earthquake researches. The Anqiu and Juxian electromagnetic stations in Shandong Province locate near the Anqiu-Juxian Fault and Changyi-Dadian Fault, which are branches of the Yishu fault zone, respectively. Geoelectric field and geomagnetic field observation were carried out in these two stations. The Wudi electromagnetic station is in the west of Tanlu fault zone in the Jidong-Bohai block and 230km from Anqiu electromagnetic station. This paper firstly describes the crustal structure near the electromagnetic stations by using magnetotelluric(MT)method. By processing the data carefully, we obtain the MT data in good quality near the stations. The MT data of each electromagnetic station and its nearby area suggests that the electrical structure and geological structure of the station are comparable. This paper applied 1-D and 2-D inversion for MT data and obtained the crustal electrical structure model beneath the Anqiu and Juxian seismic station. The shallow electrical structure from the MT method was compared with the results of symmetrical quadrupole electrical sounding. The model suggests that the electrical structure beneath the Anqiu and Juxian electromagnetic stations is complex and shows the feature of block boundary. The Wudi electromagnetic station is located inside a basin, the crustal structure shows layered feature typical for the stable blocks. Beneath the Anqiu electromagnetic station, there is a 1km-thick relative low resistivity layer in the shallow crust and a high resistivity body beneath it with a depth of 13km. There is a high resistivity structure in the crust beneath the Juxian electromagnetic station. The crustal structures are divided into two different parts by Anqiu-Juxian Fault and Changyi-Dadian Fault, respectively. More conductive layers appear to the west of the two faults. Plenty of fluid possibly exists within the conductive body to the west of Changyi-Dadian Fault, which plays important role in the earthquake generation. There is a relative low resistivity layer in the crust within 1~2km beneath the Wudi electromagnetic station. Beneath the relatively low resistivity layer, a relatively high resistivity layer extends to a depth of around 15km, and the resistivity value decreases with the increase of depth. The electrical resistivity model suggests the seismic activity of the Yishu fault zone around the Anqiu and Juxian electromagnetic stations should be taken into account seriously, and monitoring and research on it need to be strengthened. The results of this paper provide a certain reference value for the crustal structure research to similar stations.

THE EFFECT OF HARD INTERLAYER THICKNESS ONTHE SITE SEISMIC RESPONSE

ZHOU Zheng-hua, LI Yu-ping, ZHOU You, LI Xiao-jun, CHEN Liu, SU Jie, DONG Qing, WANG Ya-fei

2019, 41(5):  1254-1265.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-4967.2019.05.012

Asbtract ( )   HTML   PDF (1637KB) ( )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Studies on the effect of near-surface overburden soil layers on seismic motion have shown that the overburden soil layers have a significant impact on the seismic effect of the site due to the formation age, genetic type, thickness difference, structure, and dynamic characteristics of the soil layers. In this paper, the one-dimensional seismic response analysis of a nuclear power plant site containing a thick hard interlayer was conducted to discuss the influence of the hard interlayer thickness on the site seismic response, so as to provide a basis for determining the seismic motion parameters for seismic design of similar sites. Based on the engineering geological data of a nuclear power plant site, five models of one-dimensional soil-layer seismic response analysis were built, and the equivalent linear method of the one-dimensional site seismic response was applied to analyze the effect of the interlayer thickness on the peak acceleration and the acceleration response spectra of the site seismic response. The seismic response characteristics of the site and influence rules of the hard interlayer thickness are summarized as follows:1)Under different input seismic motion levels, the peak acceleration at the top of the hard interlayer was less than the input peak acceleration, and the peak acceleration at the ground surface of site was greater than the input peak acceleration. 2)Under the same input seismic motion, the ratios of the peak accelerations at the top of hard interlayer to the input peak accelerations were smaller than the ratios of the peak accelerations at the ground surface to the input peak acceleration, and these ratios first decreased and then increased gradually with the increase of the hard interlayer thickness; while for the same hard interlayer thickness, these ratios gradually decreased as the input peak acceleration increasing. 3)For the same input seismic motion, the ratios of the peak accelerations at the ground surface of site to those at the top of the hard interlayer increased gradually as the hard interlayer thickness increased; however, corresponding to different hard interlayer thicknesses, the variation characteristics of ratios which are the peak accelerations at the ground surface of site to those at the top of the hard interlayer were inconsistent with the increase of the input peak acceleration. 4)The hard interlayer had a significant influence on the short-period acceleration response spectrum and the thicker the hard interlayer was, the wider the influence frequency band would be; while for a special hard interlayer thickness, the influence frequency band is certain, and the hard interlayer had little effect on the acceleration response spectrum coordinates outside this frequency band, the longer the period is, the less the influence of the hard interlayer on the acceleration response spectrum coordinates. The seismic response characteristics of the site and influence rules of the hard interlayer thickness indicate that the hard interlayer thickness has a significant impact on the peak acceleration and the acceleration response spectra of the site seismic response, and the hard interlayer has obvious isolation effect at the seismic motion, and the increase of its thickness reduces the nonlinear effect of the site and leads to the wider influence frequency band. Meanwhile, the higher the input peak acceleration is, the stronger the nonlinear effect of the site, and it's remarkable that the soft layer overlying the hard interlayer has a significant amplification effect on the seismic motion.

THE GEOLOGICAL AND ROCK MECHANICAL DISTINCTION EVIDENCE BETWEEN STICK-SLIP AND CREEP IN HOST ROCK SEGMENTS OF FAULT

ZHOU Yong-sheng

2019, 41(5):  1266-1272.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-4967.2019.05.013

Asbtract ( )   HTML   PDF (316KB) ( )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Paleo-seismic and fault activity are hard to distinguish in host rock areas compared with soft sedimentary segments of fault. However, fault frictional experiments could obtain the conditions of stable and unstable slide, as well as the microstructures of fault gouge, which offer some identification marks between stick-slip and creep of fault.
We summarized geological and rock mechanical distinction evidence between stick-slip and creep in host rock segments of fault, and analyzed the physical mechanisms which controlled the behavior of stick-slip and creep. The chemical composition of fault gouge is most important to control stick-slip and creep. Gouge composed by weak minerals, such as clay mineral, has velocity weakening behavior, which causes stable slide of fault. Gouge with rock-forming minerals, such as calcite, quartz, feldspar, pyroxene, has stick-slip behavior under condition of focal depth. To the gouge with same chemical composition, the deformation mechanism controls the frictional slip. It is essential condition to stick slip for brittle fracture companied by dilatation, but creep is controlled by compaction and cataclasis as well as ductile shear with foliation and small fold. However, under fluid conditions, pressure solution which healed the fractures and caused strength recovery of fault, is the original reason of unstable slide, and also resulted in locking of fault with high pore pressure in core of fault zone. Contrast with that, rock-forming minerals altered to phyllosilicates in the gouges by fluid flow through degenerative reaction and hydrolysis reaction, which produced low friction fault and transformations to creep. The creep process progressively developed several wide shear zones including of R, Y, T, P shear plane that comprise gouge zones embedded into wide damage zones, which caused small earthquake distributed along wide fault zones with focal mechanism covered by normal fault, strike-slip fault and reverse fault. However, the stick-slip produced mirror-like slide surfaces with very narrow gouges along R shear plane and Y shear plane, which caused small earthquake distributed along narrow fault zones with single kind of focal mechanism.

STUDY ON THE MRF-BASED METHOD FOR DAMAGED BUILDINGS EXTRACTION FROM THE SINGLE-PHASE SEISMIC IMAGE

ZHANG Ling, TAN Xuan, SONG Dong-mei, WANG Bin, LI Rui-lin

2019, 41(5):  1273-1288.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-4967.2019.05.014

Asbtract ( )   HTML   PDF (5699KB) ( )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Earthquake events are one of the most extraordinarily serious natural calamities, which not only cause heavy casualties and economic losses, but also various secondary disasters. Such events are devastating, and have far-reaching influences. As the main disaster bearing body in earthquake, buildings are often seriously damaged, thus it can be used as an important reference for earthquake damage assessment. Identifying damaged buildings from post-earthquake images quickly and accurately is of real importance, which has guidance meaning to rescue and emergency response. At present, the assessment of earthquake damage is mainly through artificial field investigation, which is time-consuming and cannot meet the urgent requirements of rapid emergency response. Markov Random Field(MRF)combines the neighborhood system of pixels with the prior distribution model to effectively describe the dependence between spatial pixels and pixels, so as to obtain more accurate segmentation results. The support vector machine(SVM)model is a simple and clear mathematical model which has a solid theoretical basis; in addition, it also has unique advantages in solving small sample, nonlinear and high-dimensional pattern recognition problems. Thus, in this paper, a Markov random field-based method for damaged buildings extraction from the single-phase seismic image is proposed. The framework of the proposed method has three components. Firstly, Markov Random Field was used to segment the image; then, the spectral and texture features of the post-earthquake damaged building area are extracted. After that, Support Vector Machine was used to extract the damaged buildings according to the extracted features. In order to evaluate the proposed method, 5 areas in ADS40 earthquake remote sensing image were selected as experimental data, this image covers parts of Wenchuan City, Sichuan Province, where an earthquake had struck in 2008. And in order to verify the applicability of this method to different resolution images, an experimental area was selected from different resolution images obtained by the same equipment. The experimental results show that the proposed method has good performance and could effectively identify the damaged buildings after the earthquake. The average overall accuracy of the selected experimental areas is 93.02%. Compared with the result extracted by the widely used eCognition software, the proposed method is simpler in operation and can improve the extraction accuracy and running time significantly. Therefore, it has significant meaning for both emergency rescue work and accurate disaster information providing after earthquake.

SITE EVALUATION AND VOLCANIC HAZARD ASSESSMENT FOR THE NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS OF CHINA

XU Jian-dong, YU Hong-mei, ZHOU Ben-gang, CUI Wen-ling, DU Long, WEI Fei-xiang

2019, 41(5):  1289-1301.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-4967.2019.05.015

Asbtract ( )   HTML   PDF (5828KB) ( )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Starting from the 1980's of last century, China has launched the national plan of constructing nuclear power plants along the coastline region in eastern China. Currently, in some of these candidate sites, nuclear facilities have been installed and are in operation, but some other nuclear power plants are still under construction or in site evaluation. In 2012 the Atomic Energy Commission issued the specific guide for volcanic hazards in site evaluation for nuclear installations(IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SSG-21), which was prepared under the IAEA's program for safety standards. It supplements and provides recommendations for meeting the requirements for nuclear installations established in the safety requirements publication on site evaluation for nuclear installations in relation to volcanic hazards. To satisfy the safety standards for volcanic hazard, we follow the IAEA SSG-21 guidelines and develop a simple and practical diffusion program in order to evaluate the potential volcanic hazard caused by tephra fallout from the explosive eruptions.
In this practice, we carried out a case study of the active volcanoes in north Hainan Province so as to conduct the probabilistic analysis of the potential volcanic hazard in the surrounding region. The Quaternary volcanism in north Hainan Island, so-called Qiongbei volcanic field is characterized by multi periodic activity, in which the most recent eruption is dated at about 4 000a BP. According to IAEA SSG-21, a capable volcano is one for which both 1)a future eruption or related volcanic event is credible; and 2)such an event has the potential to produce phenomena that may affect a site. Therefore, the Qiongbei volcanic field is capable of producing hazardous phenomena that may reach the potential nuclear power plants around. The input parameters for the simulation of tephra fallout from the future eruption of the Qiongbei volcanic field, such as the size, density and shape of the tephra, the bulk volume and column height, the diffusion parameter P(z), wind direction and intensity, were obtained by field investigation and laboratory analysis. We carried out more than 10000 tephra fallout simulations using a statistical dataset of wind profiles which are obtained from China Meteorological Data Sharing Service System(CMDSSS). Tephra fallout hazard probability maps were constructed for tephra thickness threshold of 1cm. Our results show that the tephra produced by the future large-scale explosive eruption from the Qiongbei volcanic field can affect the area in a range about 250km away from the eruption center.
In summary, the current key technical parameters related to volcanic activity and potential hazards in IAEA/SSG-21 guidelines, such as 10Ma volcanic life cycle and 1×10^-7 volcanic disaster screening probability threshold, etc. are based on the volcanic activity characteristics in the volcanic island arc system. In consideration of the relatively low level of volcanic activity compared with volcanic island arc system due to the different tectonic background of volcanism in mainland China, the time scale of volcanic disaster assessment in IAEA SSG-21 guideline is relatively high for volcanoes in mainland China. We suggest that the study of "conceptual model" of volcanic activity should be strengthened in future work to prove that there is no credible potential for future eruptions, so that these volcanoes should be screened out at early stage instead of further evaluation by probabilistic model.

(U-TH)/HE DATING OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARD FISH CANYON TUFF ZIRCON

WANG Ying, ZHENG De-wen, LI You-juan, WU Ying

2019, 41(5):  1302-1315.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-4967.2019.05.016

Asbtract ( )   HTML   PDF (1251KB) ( )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Zircon is one of the most commonly used accessory minerals rich in U and Th for(U-Th)/He dating system. Compared with apatite, zircon has a higher He closure temperature (~190℃), which gives it more advantages in solving the problem of source material and thermal history reconstruction in sedimentary basins. However, the crystals of zircons often have U and Th zoning development, with obvious differences in concentration. Even the standard sample of FCT(Fish Canyon Tuff)zircon which is widely used in (U-Th)/He dating has an average age dispersion of about 10%. In this study, the Alphachron He isotope mass spectrometer is used for laser melting of a batch of single grains of FCT zircon(11 grains)to determine their ⁴He content. The contents of U and Th of parent isotopes are accurately determined by automatic injection of Agilent 7900 ICP-MS and isotope diluent method. The Th/U ratios of the 10 FCT zircons calculated with (U-Th)/He average age in this paper range from 0.52 to 0.67, which are consistent with the Th/U ratios of 186 reported so far. According to the Th/U ratios of 189 FCT zircons published in the statistical literature, we found that only three of them had high Th/U ratios, namely, 1.12, 1.16 and 1.5, the other 186 FCT zircons(occupy>98%) had a Th/U ratio less than 1. Based on previous results and the 10 Th/U ratios measured in this paper, 196 FCT zircons have a normal Th/U ratio ranging from 0.27 to 1.00, with an average ratio of 0.56(n=196). Excluding one abnormally old age, the(U-Th)/He ages of the remaining FCT zircons in this study range from 26.61 to 31.91Ma, with a weighted mean age of (28.8±3.1)Ma (2SD, n=10), which is consistent with the mean age ((28.3±3.1)Ma, 2σ, n=127) or (28.29±2.6)Ma(2σ external error, 9.3%, n=114)obtained by several other international laboratories. This indicates that the zircon single particle(U-Th)/He dating process established by our laboratory is reliable. For the zircon samples with U, Th banding and concentration differences prevailing, determining the distribution of U, Th elements in the crystal prior to the (U-Th)/He experiment is essential for understanding effects of geometry and elemental zoning on nuclear recoil and diffusion and the interpretation of (U-Th)/He age data.