ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Structural Geology and Tectonics
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2025.1667992
Late Quaternary activity characteristics of the Quzika-Jitang segment along the Lancangjiang fault zone, eastern Tibetan Plateau
Provisionally accepted
- 1Chengdu Center, China Geological Survey (Geosciences Innovation Center of Southwest China), Chengdu, China
- 2Sichuan Earthquake Agency, Chengdu, China
- 3Institute of Earthquake Forecasting China Earthquake Administration, Beijing, China
- 4College of Earth Sciences, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, China, Guilin, China
- 5Tuojiang River Basin High-quality Development Research Center, Neijiang Normal University, Neijiang, China, Neijiang, China
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The Lancangjiang fault zone (LCJFZ) is a major crustal-scale fault system that traverses the Sichuan-Tibet traffic corridor. Determining its late Quaternary activity is thus crucial for assessing seismic hazards and guiding the planning of this critical infrastructure. However, there is no clear evidence as to whether the fault zone has been active since the late Quaternary. Although recent studies have suggested that the Lancangjiang fault (LCJF), a main branch of the LCJFZ, offsets Holocene sediments near the Jitang and Quzika sites and is therefore active, the supporting evidence remains inconclusive. In this paper, we carried out detailed field investigation along the Quzika-Jitang segment, building on previous work. Combined with radiocarbon dating, we reassessed the late Quaternary activity of the LCJF. Our new results reveal that the nearly SN-trending segment of the LCJF (F1) shows no sign of late Quaternary activity. In contrast, the NE-trending branch fault of the LCJF (F2), located near Quzika Township, has faulted the late Quaternary strata and may exhibit Holocene activity. Further analysis suggests that the LCJFZ is no longer the main structure regulating regional tectonic deformation. Instead, secondary strike-slip faults, such as fault F2 and the Yangda-Yaxu fault (YYF), cut through or intersect the LCJFZ, and exhibit obvious late Quaternary activity. Thus, we speculate that the NE-trending F2 and WNW-trending YYF are both probably the most active structures around the LCJFZ today. These observations indicate that the main structures absorbing and regulating regional strain energy have changed from nearly SN-trending LCJFZ to several secondary WNW-and NE-trending faults, which means that tectonic transformation and fault neogenesis have occurred around the LCJFZ.
Keywords: Langcangjiang fault zone, Fault activity, Secondary fault, tectonictransformation and fault neogenesis, Three Parallel Rivers Region
Received: 17 Jul 2025; Accepted: 15 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Han, Wang, Li, Chen, Li, Wang and Zeng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lichun Chen, glutclc@glut.edu.cn
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