Strike-slip fault network of the Huangshi structure, SW Qaidam Basin: Insights from surface fractures and seismic data

Abstract

The Huangshi structure, as one of the NWW-trending S-shaped structures in the southwestern Qaidam Basin, holds important implications for unraveling the regional structural pattern. There are four dominant sets of surface strike-slip fractures at the core of the Huangshi structure. The fractures with orientations of N28°E, N47°E and N65°E correlate well with conjugate Riedel shears (R′), tension fractures (T) and Riedel shears (R) in the Riedel shear model, respectively. Two conjugate strike-slip fracture sets occur at the surface of the Hongpan structure (secondary to the Huangshi structure) and the southwestern part of the Huangshi structure. In seismic sections, the Huangshi structure is present as a positive flower or Y-shaped structure governed by steeply dipping faults, whereas Hongpan and Xiaoshaping structures, located symmetrically to the Huangshi structure, are thrust-controlled anticlines. The Riedel shear pattern of surface strike-slip fractures, the positive flower or Y-shaped structure in seismic sections and the NW-trending secondary compressional anticlines consistently demonstrate that the Huangshi structure is dominated by left-lateral strike-slip faults which comprise a strike-slip fault network. Considering the similar S-shaped configuration and NWW trend of structures across the southwestern Qaidam Basin, it can be further speculated that these structures are also predominantly of left-lateral strike-slip types.