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Late Quaternary normal faulting and its kinematic mechanism of eastern piedmont fault of the Haba-Yulong Snow Mountains in northwestern Yunnan, China

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Abstract

The regional geologic and geomorphic observations show that an active arcuate normal fault constitutes the main boundary fault of the Haba-Yulong Snow Mountains (HYSM). This fault is called eastern piedmont fault of Haba-Yulong Snow Mountains (HYPF). The fault consists of two segments with differential trend; the northern segment is NW-trending and NE-dipping and the southern section is S-N trending and E-dipping. Three sets of fault scarps cutting late Quaternary landforms and their dating results indicate that the fault is a prominent Holocene active fault and its throw rates are 0.3–1.4 mm/a during late Quaternary. The geometry and kinematics of the fault suggest that the arcuate normal faulting or rifting are typical surface deformation pattern at the two tips of the Z-shaped rift zone of northwestern Yunnan, which is related to regional east-west extension accompanying clockwise rotation of micro-block.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geomechanics, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    ZhongHai Wu, YongShuang Zhang, DaoGong Hu & PeiSheng Ye

  2. Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    XiTao Zhao

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Correspondence to ZhongHai Wu.

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Supported by Department of International Cooperation of Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant No. 2006DFA21320), China Geological Survey of Ministry of Land and Resources (Grant No. 1212010541404) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40501006)

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Wu, Z., Zhang, Y., Hu, D. et al. Late Quaternary normal faulting and its kinematic mechanism of eastern piedmont fault of the Haba-Yulong Snow Mountains in northwestern Yunnan, China. Sci. China Ser. D-Earth Sci. 52, 1470–1484 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-009-0148-2

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