Tectonic topography and Late Pleistocene activity of the West Qinling Fault, northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Abstract A precise measurement of the slip rate of active faults within and around the Tibetan Plateau will provide definite and explicit knowledge of continental dynamics and present-day active tectonic processes. The WNW-trending West Qinling Fault (WQLF), the target of this study, is one of the major active strike-slip faults developed in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. The interpretation of three dimension (3D) perspective topographic maps, field investigations, and 14 C-dating results reveal that (i) the drainage systems, mountain ridges, alluvial fans, and terrace risers have been systematically left-lateral deflected or offset by ∼6 m up to hundreds of meters during the Late Pleistocene–Holocene along the WQLF in the northeastern marginal zone of the Tibetan Plateau; (ii) the left-lateral strike-slip rate is estimated to be ∼2.5–2.9 mm/yr with an average value of ∼2.7 mm/yr since the Late Pleistocene; (iii) compared to the well-studied strike-slip active faults developed in the northern and northwestern Tibetan Plateau such as the Altyn Tagh Fault and the Kunlun Fault with high slip rate of >10–20 mm/yr, the WQLF displays a characteristically low strike-slip rate of