Geometry and Kinematics of Northmost Yilan-Yitong Fault Zone, China: Insights from Shallow Seismic Data and Field Investigation

Abstract

Detailed geological and geomorphological evidence has suggested that the Yilan-Yitong fault (YYF), one of the key branches of the Tancheng-Lujiang fault zone in northeastern China, has been an active fault since the Holocene that has extended from Liaoning Province to far-eastern Asia. However, there are no clear fault traces or late Quaternary active features northeast of Tangyuan County. In this study, we carried out shallow seismic reflection exploration, field geological investigation, and trench excavation across the YYF north of Tangyuan. The results revealed that the YYF is composed of two main branches: the west YYF branch is a late Pleistocene active fault, and the east one is a middle-to-early Pleistocene fault. In Heli Town, the west branch of YYF presents fault scarps with heights of ~0.6 m. Across the scarps, we excavated a trench, and we propose that the YYF displaced the late Pleistocene to Holocene deposits, as this was indicated by the geochronological data. The seismic reflection data and sedimentary sequence revealed that the YYF north of Tangyuan is composed of three tectonic belts: the western depression, the central bulge, and the eastern depression. Each tectonic belt is composed of several small folds formed from the end of the Paleogene to the beginning of the Neogene. After the Neogene, different subsidence and uplift events occurred in various parts of the YYF, and after the early Pleistocene, the fault showed a consistent subsidence.