摘要
During the last 20 years, studies on active tectonics in China have entered a new quan-titative research stage and made a great progress. Summing up the quantitative results, a Map of Active Tectonics of China on the scale of 1︰4 million has been compiled. In the map all types of active tectonics and their kinematic parameters are reflected in possible detail, such as active faults, active folds, active basins, active blocks, volcanoes, and earthquakes. This paper summa-rizes the basic characteristics of active tectonics of China. The Himalaya Mountains and Taiwan Island are major plate boundaries where the slip rates are larger than 15 mm/a. Tectonic activity in the continental intraplate region is characterized by block motion. The crust and lithosphere in the region were dissected into blocks with different orders. Of them the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet), Xin- jiang, and North China block regions exhibit the most recent tectonic activity. The kinematic char-acteristics of more than 200 active tectonic zones indicate that the intraplate tectonic activity represents a block motion at a limited low rate. Horizontal slip rate along the tectonic boundary belts between the blocks is generally less than 10 mm/a, and 10—15 mm/a in maximum, and hence it does not support the continental escape theory of high rate of slip.
During the last 20 years, studies on active tectonics in China have entered anew quantitative research stage and made a great progress. Summing up the quantitative results, aMap of Active Tectonics of China on the scale of 1 : 4 million has been compiled. In the map alltypes of active tectonics and their kinematic parameters are reflected in possible detail, such asactive faults, active folds, active basins, active blocks, volcanoes, and earthquakes. This papersummarizes the basic characteristics of active tectonics of China. The Himalaya Mountains and TaiwanIsland are major plate boundaries where the slip rates are larger than 15 mm/a. Tectonic activityin the continental intraplate region is characterized by block motion. The crust and lithosphere inthe region were dissected into blocks with different orders. Of them the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet),Xinjiang, and North China block regions exhibit the most recent tectonic activity. The kinematiccharacteristics of more than 200 active tectonic zones indicate that the intraplate tectonicactivity represents a block motion at a limited low rate. Horizontal slip rate along the tectonicboundary belts between the blocks is generally less than 10 mm/a, and 10—15 mm/a in maximum, andhence it does not support the continental escape theory of high rate of slip.
基金
The research was supported by National Key Basic Research Program(Grant No.1998040701)
Key Research Project of the 9th Five-Year Plan of China Seismological Bureau(Grant No.95040701).
