Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-x4r87 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T03:25:13.985Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Asymmetrical valleys created by the geomorphic response of rivers to strike-slip fault

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Ke Zhang ,
Kaiyu Liu  and
Jinchun Yang
Ke Zhang*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Zhongshan University, Guangzhou, 510275, PR China
Kaiyu Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
Jinchun Yang
Affiliation:
Department of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, PR China
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: +86 20 84112390.

E-mail address:eeszke@zsu.edu.cn (K. Zhang).

Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Offset fluvial valleys, including rivers beheaded and deflected by strike-slip faults, have long been used to estimate horizontal displacements on the faults. Larger rivers crossing such faults, however, sometimes show either no offset or only a small amount of offset compared to smaller rivers crossing the same faults. The larger rivers with higher erosional rates may widen their valleys asymmetrically downstream of strike-slip faults, rather than being beheaded or deflected. Examples are described from the Yellow River near the NE margin of the Tibetan Plateau. River beheading and asymmetrical widening are two end-members of a fluvial valley's response to strike-slip faulting, whereas deflection is a combination of both. Recognition of the formation of such asymmetrical valleys related to strike-slip faulting will help to understand fault activity better over longer time spans and enable a re-evaluation of many fault histories worldwide.

Keywords

Asymmetrical valleyOffset riverDeflected riverBeheaded riverStrike-slip faultYellow RiverNortheastern margin of Tibetan Plateau
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 62 , Issue 3 , November 2004 , pp. 310 - 315
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, C.R., Gillespie, A.R., Han, Y., Sieh, K.E., Zhang, B., Zhu, C., (1984). Red River and associated faults, Yunnan Province, China: Quaternary geology, slip rates, and seismic hazard. Geological Society of America Bulletin 95, 6 686–700.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burchfiel, B.C., Zhang, P., Wang, Y., Zhang, W., Song, F., Deng, Q., Molnar, P., Royden, L., (1991). Geology of the Haiyuan fault zone, Ningxia–Hai Autonomous Region, China and its relation to the evolution of the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Tectonics 10, 6 1091–1110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chang, C., Chen, N., Coward, M.P., Deng, W., Dewey, J.F., (1986). Preliminary conclusion of the Royal Society and Academia Sinica 1985 geotraverse of Tibet. Nature 323, 9 501–507.Google Scholar
Cox, R.T., (1994). Analysis of drainage-basin symmetry as a rapid technique to identify areas of possible Quaternary tilt-block tectonics: an example from the Mississippi Embayment. Geological Society of America Bulletin 106, 5 571–581.Google Scholar
Deng, Q., Song, F., Zhu, S., Li, M., Wang, T., Zhang, W., Burchfiel, B.C., Molnar, P., Zhang, P., (1984). Active faulting and tectonics of the Ningxia–Hui Autonomous Region, China. Journal of Geophysical Research 89, B6 4427–4445.Google Scholar
Diffendal, R.F. Jr., Corner, R.G., (1983). Asymmetrical distribution of Quaternary alluvial fills, Pumpkin Creek drainage basin, western Nebraska.. Geological Society of America Bulletin 94, 6 720–729.Google Scholar
Keller, E.A., Bonkowski, M.S., Korsch, R.J., Shlemon, R.J., (1982). Tectonic geomorphology of the San Andreas fault zone in the southern Indio Hills, Coachella Valley, California. Geological Society of America Bulletin 93, 1 46–56.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, B.A., (1976). Valley-side, slopes and climate. Derbryshire, E., Geomorphology and Climate Wiley, London.184–190.Google Scholar
Leeder, M.R., Alexander, J., (1987). The origin and tectonic significance of asymmetrical meander-belts. Sedimentology 34, 217–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, Y., Yang, J., (1998). Tectonic geomorphology in the Hexi Corridor, northwest China. Basin Research 10, 345–352.Google Scholar
Markewich, H.W., (1985). Geomorphic evidence for Pliocene–Pleistocene uplift in the area of the Cape Fear Arch, North Carolina. Morisawa, M., Hack, J.T., Tectonic Geomorphology Mass Press, Boston.279–297.Google Scholar
Ollier, C.C., (1981). Tectonics and Landforms. Langmen, New York.Google Scholar
Peltzer, G., Tapponnier, P., Zhang, Z., Xu, Z., (1985). Neogene and Quaternary faulting in and along the Qinling Shan. Nature 317, 10 500–505.Google Scholar
Ramirez-Herrera, M.T., Summerfield, M.A., Qrtiz-Perez, M.A., (1994). Tectonic geomorphology of the Acambay graben, Mexican volcanic belt. Zeitschrift fur Morphologie N.F. 38, 151–168.Google Scholar
Reed, J.C., (1981). Disequilibrium profile of the Potomac River near Washington D.C.–a result of lowered base level or Quaternary tectonics along the fall line. Geology 9, 445–450.Google Scholar
Schlee, J., (1957). Upland gravels of southern Maryland. Geological Society of America Bulletin 68, 1371–1410.Google Scholar
Sieh, K.E., Jahns, R.H., (1984). Holocene activity of the San Andreas Fault at Wallace Creek. Geological Society of America Bulletin 95, 8 883–896.Google Scholar
State Seismology Bureau of China and Provincial Seismology Bureau of Ningxia, (1990). The Huiyuan Active Fault Zone. Seismology Press, Beijing.In Chinese.Google Scholar
Summerfield, M.A., (1987). Neotectonics and landform genesis. Progress in Physical Geography 11, 384–397.Google Scholar
Weldon, R.J., Sieh, K.E., (1985). Holocene rate of slip and tentative recurrence interval for large earthquakes on the San Andreas fault, Cajon Pass, southern California. Geological Society of America Bulletin 96, 6 793–812.Google Scholar
Wesnousky, S.G., Prentice, C.S., Siek, K.E., (1991). An offset Holocene stream channel and the rate of slip along the northern reach of the San Jacinto fault zone, San Bernardino Valley, California. Geological Society of America Bulletin 103, 5 700–709.Google Scholar
Xing, C., Yin, G., Ding, G., Lu, Y., Shen, X., Tian, Q., Chai, Z., Wei, K., (2002). Thickness of Calcium Carbonate Coats on Stones of the Heishanxia Terraces of the Yellow River and Dating of Coarse Clastic Sedimentary Geomorphic Surfaces. Chinese Science Bulletin 47, 19 1594–1660.Google Scholar
Zhang, P., Molnar, P., Burchfiel, B.C., Royden, L., Wang, Y., Deng, Q., Song, F., Zhang, W., Jiao, D., (1988). Bounds on the Holocene slip rate of the Haiyuan Fault. Quaternary Research 30, 2 151–164.Google Scholar
Zhang, P., Burchiel, B.C., Molnar, P., Zhang, W., Jiao, D., Deng, Q., Wang, Y., Royden, L., Song, F., (1991). Amount and style of late Cenozoic deformation in the Liupan Shan area, Ningxia Autonomous Region, China. Tectonics 10, 6 111–1129.(Chinese Science Bulletin, 47 (19), 1594–1660).Google Scholar
Zhou, T., Yao, M., Wang, L., Zhu, B., Yuan, J., Liu, X., Ma, X., (1994). Tectonic landforms in Ninxia. Ningxia Peoples' Press, Yinchuan.In Chinese.Google Scholar