Yiquan Li

Provenance of detrital zircons from the late Neoproterozoic to Ordovician sandstones of South China: implications for its continental affinity

The U–Pb geochronology of 687 detrital zircons from the voluminous Upper Neoproterozoic–Ordovician succession in the Wuyishan Fold Belt of South China reveals a common dominant c. 1200–950 Ma group, indicative of an outboard provenance terrane with a Grenville-age province to the southeast during the late Neoproterozoic–Early Palaeozoic. Compared with coeval samples from the Gondwanan and eastern Laurentian margins, our data show a scarcity of distinctive Gondwanan provenances ( c. 650–500 Ma) and reveal some Laurentian signatures. These results argue against the peri-Gondwanan setting for South China during the late Neoproterozoic–Ordovician, instead implying a Laurentian affinity.

The 2013 Lushan earthquake: Implications for seismic hazards posed by the Range Front blind thrust in the Sichuan Basin, China

Thrust and reverse faults pose significant earthquake hazards in convergent plate margins around the world, but have proven difficult to study given the complex nature of their ruptures, which often involve multiple along-strike and vertically stacked fault segments. The 2013 Mw 6.6 Lushan earthquake exemplified this complexity, rupturing a blind thrust fault in the southern Longmen Shan, which border the western Sichuan Basin in China. This event occurred 80 km south of the epicenter of the destructive 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake. The Wenchuan earthquake produced surface ruptures on two parallel fault splays, the Pengguan and Beichuan faults. In contrast, the Lushan earthquake was generated by a ramp in the Range Front blind thrust (RFBT), which is in the footwall of the Wenchuan rupture. We use seismic reflection profiles, petroleum wells, and relocated seismicity to construct a three-dimensional model of this imbricated fault system. Our model illustrates that the 2013 Lushan earthquake ruptured <10% of the RFBT, which extends for 250 km along the Longmen Shan range front and into the western Sichuan Basin. Analysis of growth strata in structures above the RFBT fault along strike shows clear evidence of Quaternary activity and constrains the middle Pleistocene to current slip rate at two locations on the fault. Single segment and multisegment fault rupture scenarios involving the RFBT suggest the potential for large earthquakes (M7.8) that would affect the densely populated western Sichuan Basin. Assessing the hazards posed by such complex thrust systems, which occur in convergent margins worldwide, requires subsurface characterization of fault segments that can be independently associated with geologic and seismologic evidence of fault activity.

Distribution pattern and mass budget of sedimentary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in shelf areas of the Eastern China Marginal Seas

This study conducted the first extensive and comprehensive investigation of the regional-scale sedimentary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) concentration, flux, and budget in the continental shelves of the Eastern China Marginal Seas (ECMSs). Surface sediment samples from multiple sites were collected and assessed, and the latest data from current research was assessed. The spatial distribution pattern of PAHs in the ECMSs was significantly influenced by the regional hydrodynamics, sediment properties (grain-size, total organic carbon (TOC) content, and sedimentation rate), and anthropogenic impacts. Relatively higher PAHs concentrations occurred in areas with fine-grained sediment. Results of source apportionment found that the relative proportions of PAHs showed significant regional variation, mainly influenced by socio-economic differences between north and south China. The PAHs burial flux in the study area ranged from 11.2 to 1308 ng cm−2 y−1 with an average value of 101 ± 104 ng cm−2 y−1. The area-integrated sedimentary PAHs burial flux across the ECMSs was 494 t y−1. A mass budget calculation revealed that riverine input and atmospheric deposition were the most significant sources contributing, 28.4% and 71.6%, respectively. The study demonstrated that net PAHs transportation occurs between the Bohai Sea (BS) and Yellow Sea (YS), with a flux of approximately 10.2 t y−1. PAHs were also transported from YS to the East China Sea (ECS), due to water exchange between the YS and ECS. Additionally, substantial amounts of PAHs in the inner shelf of the ECS were transported out of the shelf area due to cross-shelf plume.

Reply to comment by Tan et al. on “Sandbox modeling of evolving thrust wedges with different preexisting topographic relief: Implications for the Longmen Shan thrust belt, eastern Tibet”

Tan et al. comment that the preexisting topographic relief in our sandbox is opposed to its prototype in the central Longmen Shan. Therefore, the comparison between our sandbox modeling and the natural topography is questionable and does not agree with our conclusion that the Xiaoyudong fault is a tear fault. Firstly, we are grateful to the authors for their approval of our sandbox modeling and its contribution to understanding fault behavior within thrust wedges. However, after reading the comment carefully, we found that they misunderstood the meaning of topographic relief we conveyed. In response, we would like to address the differences between the topography in their comment and the orogen-scale topography we investigated in our modeling to defend our conclusion.