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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).

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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

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