Study on coupling between deep and shallow structures of Xingtai area and some significant questions

Abstract

In the light of results from study on coupling between deep and shallow structures in Xingtai earthquake area during the “Ninth Five-Year Plan” period and other previous results from deep seismic refraction/reflection and seismic prospecting of petroleum, we infer that there exist a series of shallow faults in the upper crust above the 8 km-deep detachment surface in Xingtai macroseismic focal region, where none of the faults, including Aixinzhuang fault, reaches the Quaternary stratum, except that the Xinhe fault cuts through the mid-Pleistocene formation upwards. Aixinzhuang fault and other faults extend downwards into Xinhe fault, whereas the Xinhe listric fault stretches downwards at a low dip angle into the detachment surface. The abyssal fault with high dip angle under the detachment surface cutting through the middle and lower crust to Moho is the causative fault for the large Xingtai earthquake, whose dislocation can cause strong earthquakes, shallow fault activity and the motion of surface material. The shallow faults in the upper crust are not causative faults for strong earthquakes, although they may be active faults. The existence of the detachment surface brings about a special relationship between shallow and deep structures, i.e. they are relatively independent of each other and have effects on each other. It not only transmits partial energy and deformation between the upper and lower crust, but also has a certain decoupling effect. Finally we conclude that active faults do not necessarily reach the latest stratum, and the age of uppermost faulted stratum cannot represent the latest active period of the fault. This put to us a significant question in regard to the age determination and study of active faults. Other noticeable questions are also inferred to in this study.