Regression-transgression cycles of paleolakes in the Fen River Graben Basin during the mid to late Quaternary and their tectonic implication

doi:10.1007/s11707-016-0598-8

Front. Earth Sci.

2017, Vol. 11

Issue (4) : 703-714 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-016-0598-8

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Regression-transgression cycles of paleolakes in the Fen River Graben Basin during the mid to late Quaternary and their tectonic implication

Meijun CHEN, Xiaomeng HU(

)

Geography Department, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China

Download: PDF(3388 KB) HTML
Export: BibTeX | EndNote | Reference Manager | ProCite | RefWorks

Abstract

An investigation into lake terraces and their sedimentary features in the Fen River Graben Basin shows that several paleolake regression-transgression cycles took place during the mid to late Quaternary. The horizontal distribution of the lowest loess/paleosol unit overlying each lake terrace indicates the occurrence of four rapid lake regressions when paleosols S₈, S₅, S₂, and S₁ began to develop. The horizontal distribution of the topmost loess/paleosol unit underlying the lacustrine sediment in each transition zone between two adjacent terraces indicates that following a lake regression, a very slow lake transgression occurred. The durations of three lake transgressions correspond to those of the deposition or development of loess/paleosols L₈ to L₆, L₅ to L₃, and L₂. It is thereby inferred that regional tectonic movement is likely the primary factor resulting in the cyclical process of paleolake regressions and transgressions. Taking these findings along with published geophysical research results regarding the upper mantle movements underneath the graben basin into account, this paper deduces that a cause and effect relationship may exist between the paleolake regression-transgression cycles and the tectonic activity in the upper mantle. The occurrence of a rapid lake regression implies that the upwelling of the upper mantle underneath the graben basin may be dominant and resulting in a rapid uplifting of the basin floor. The subsequent slow lake transgression implies that the thinning of the crust and cooling of the warm mantle material underneath the graben basin may become dominant causing the basin floor to subside slowly. Four rapid paleolake regressions indicate that four episodic tectonic movements took place in the graben basin during the mid to late Quaternary.

Keywords Fen River Graben Basin lake terrace paleolake regression/transgression tectonic movement

Corresponding Author(s): Xiaomeng HU

Just Accepted Date: 14 November 2016 Online First Date: 13 December 2016 Issue Date: 10 November 2017

Cite this article:

Meijun CHEN,Xiaomeng HU. Regression-transgression cycles of paleolakes in the Fen River Graben Basin during the mid to late Quaternary and their tectonic implication[J]. Front. Earth Sci., 2017, 11(4): 703-714.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/10.1007/s11707-016-0598-8
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/Y2017/V11/I4/703

Fig.1 Sketch map showing FRGB landforms and the locations of the geomorphic-sedimentary sections discussed in the paper.

Fig.2 Schemes showing the sedimentary responses to the different processes of lake regression and transgression.

Fig.3 Geomorphic-sedimentary cross-section of the profile studied in the northern sector of the Linfen Basin.

Fig.4 Geomorphic-sedimentary cross-section of the profile studied in the southern sector of the Linfen Basin. B/M: Boundary between the Brunhes Normal Polarity Zone and the Matuyama Reversal Polarity Zone.

Fig.5 Geomorphic-sedimentary cross-section in the Taiyuan Basin. I°: Magnetism Inclination; J: Jaramillo Normal Polarity Subzone.

Fig.6 Sequence of paleolake regression and transgression cycles during the mid-late Quaternary. Note: SLTS-slow lake transgression stage; RLRS-rapid lake regression stage. The ages of some loess/paleosol boundaries are acquired from Liu (1985), Shen (1994), and Imbrie et al. (1984).

1	An Z S, Kukla G J, Porter S C, Xiao J L (1991b). Magnetic susceptibility evidence of monsoon variation on the Loess Plateau of central China during the last 130,000 years. Quat Res, 36(1): 29–36 https://doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(91)90015-W
2	An Z S, Kukla G J, Proter S C,Xiao J L (1991a). Late Quaternary dust flow on the Chinese loess plateau. Catena, 18(2): 125–132 https://doi.org/10.1016/0341-8162(91)90012-M
3	Bai L W, Hou T G (1994). Deep geophysical exploration on Shanxi Graben System. North China Earthquake Sciences, 12(3): 27–35 (in Chinese)
4	Bergner A G N , Strecker M R , Trauth M H , Deino A , Gasse F , Blisniuk P , Duhnforth M (2009). Tectonic and climatic control on evolution of rift lakes in the Central Kenya Rift, East Africa. Quat Sci Rev, 28(25‒26): 2804–2816 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.07.008
5	Briggs R W, Wesnousky S G, Adams K D (2005). Late Pleistocene and late Holocene lake highstands in the Pyramid Lake Subbasin of Lake Lahontan, Navada, USA. Quat Res, 64(2): 257–263 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2005.02.011
6	Chang W Y, Li Y H, Ma F C, Zong J Y (1981). On the mechanical mechanism of the formation of graben. Scientia Geological Sinica, 1: 1–11 (in Chinese)
7	Cukur D, Krastel S, Schmincke H U , Sumita M , Tomonaga Y , Namik Caǧatay M (2014). Water level changes in Lake Van, Turkey, during the past ca. 600 ka: climatic, volcanic and tectonic controls. J Paleolimnol, 52(3): 201–214 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-014-9788-0
8	Delvaux D, Kervyn F, Vittori E , Kajara R S A , Kilembe E (1998). Late Quaternary tectonic activity and lake level change in the Rukwa Rift Basin. J Afr Earth Sci, 26(3): 397–421 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0899-5362(98)00023-2
9	Deng Q D, Zhang Y M, Xu G L, Fang F T (1982). The characteristics of neotectonic stress field in China and its relationship with the intra-plate movement. Seismic Geology, 1(1): 11–22 (in Chinese)
10	Dong Y, Xie A H, Wei H (2001). The formation of Dingcun Lake and its environment change. Journal of Shanxi Teacher’s University (Natural Science Edition), 15(4): 70–74
11	Editorial Board of China’s Physical Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences (1985). Physical Geography of China: General. Beijing: Science Press, 3 ‒ 20, 74–102 (in Chinese)
12	Eriş K K (2013). Late Pleistocene–Holocene sedimentary records of climate and lake-level changes in Lake Hazar, eastern Anatolia, Turkey. Quaternary International, 302(17): 123–134
13	Gao G M, Kang G F, Li G Q, Bai C H (2015). Crustal magnetic anomaly in the Ordos region and its tectonic implications. J Asian Earth Sci, 109: 63–73 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2015.04.033
14	Guo Z T, Fedoroff N (1990). Genesis of calcium carbonate in loess and in paleosols in central China. Developments in Soil Science, 19: 355–359 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-2481(08)70347-7
15	Han H Y, Mi F S, Liu H Y (2001). Geomorphological structure in the Weihe Basin and Neotectonic movement. Journal of Seismological Research, 24(3): 251–257 (in Chinese)
16	Han J T, Fyfe W S, Longstaffe F J (1998). Climatic implications of the S5 Paleosol complex on the southernmost Chinese Loess Plateau. Quat Res, 50(1): 21–33 https://doi.org/10.1006/qres.1998.1976
17	Hu S B, He L J, Wang J Y (2000). Heat flow in the continental area of China: a new data set. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 179(2): 407–419 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(00)00126-6
18	Hu X M, Chen M J, Wang D T, Wu J L, Hu H C (2012). The sequence difference in the times in the geomorphic-sedimentary evolution in the Fenwei Graben Basins during the middle-late Quaternary and its tectonic significance. Quaternary Sciences, 32(5): 1–10 (in Chinese)
19	Hu X M, Li Y L, Yang J C (2005). Quaternary paleolake development in the Fen River basin, North China. Geomorphology, 65(1‒2): 1–13 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2004.06.008
20	Hu X M, Wang L L, Zhe J, Lu H L (2010). Morpho-sedimentary evidence of the Huoshan Fault’s late Cenozoic right-lateral movement in the Linfen Graben. Shanxi Graben System, North China. Frontiers of Earth Science, 4(3): 311–319 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-010-0110-9
21	Imbrie J, Hays J D, Pisias N G, Prell W L, Shackleton N J (1984). The orbital theory of Pleistocene climate: support from a revised chronology of the marine δ18O record. In: Berger J I A, Hays J, Kukla G, Saltzman B, eds. Milankovitch and Climate, Part 1. Dordrecht: Reidel, 269–305
22	Jarvis G T (1984). An extensional model of graben subsidence—The first stage of basin evolution. Sediment Geol, 40(1‒3): 13–31 https://doi.org/10.1016/0037-0738(84)90037-X
23	Kukla G, An Z S (1989). Loess stratigraphy in central China. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 72: 203–225 https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-0182(89)90143-0
24	Li Y L, Shi X M, Fu J L (2004). Geomorphic transformational event around 1.2 Ma BP in the southern Shanxi Province. Scientia Geographica Sinica, 24(3): 292–297 (in Chinese)
25	Li Y L, Yang J C, Xia Z K, Mo D W (1998). Tectonic geomorphology in the Shanxi Graben System, northern China. Geomorphology, 23(1): 77–89 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-555X(97)00092-5
26	Liu C J, Meng F H (1975). Using archaeological method to investigate the relation between the recent structural movements and earthquankes, taking Linfen Basin, Shanxi Province, as an example. Acta Geophysical Sinica, 18(2): 127–136 (in Chinese)
27	Liu T S (1985). Loess and the Environment. Beijing: China Ocean Press, 322–358 (in Chinese)
28	Massaferro J, Recasens C, Larocque-Tobler I , Zolitschka B , Maidana N I (2013). Major lake level fluctuations and climate changes for the past 16,000 years as reflected by diatoms and chironomids preserved in the sediment of Laguna Potrok Aike, southern Patagonia. Quat Sci Rev, 71(1): 167–174 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.07.026
29	Mo D W (1991). The study on the paleoenvironmental evolution in the Linfen Basin during the Cenozoic. Journal of Peking University (Natural Science), 27(6): 25–29
30	Porter S C, An Z S (1995). Correlation between climate events in the North Atlantic and China during the last glaciation. Nature, 375(6529): 305–308 https://doi.org/10.1038/375305a0
31	Porter S C, An Z S, Zheng H B (1992). Cyclic Quaternary alluviation and terracing in a nonglaciated drainage basin on the north flank of the Qinling Shan, Central China. Quat Res, 38(2): 157–169 https://doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(92)90053-L
32	Ren J J, Zhang S M, Meigs A J, Yeats R S, Ding R, Shen X M (2014). Tectonic controls for transverse drainage and timing of the Xin-Ding paleolake breach in the upper reach of the Hutuo River, north China. Geomorphology, 206: 452–467 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2013.10.016
33	Research Group of State Seismological Bureau (1988). Active fault system around Ordos Massif. Beijing: Seismic Press, 77 ‒ 113, 238–246 (in Chinese)
34	Ross K A , Smets B , Batist M D , Hilbe M , Schmid M , Anselmetti F S (2014). Lake-level rise in the late Pleistocene and active subaquatic volcanism since the Holocene in Lake Kivu, East African Rift. Geomorpholgy, 221: 274–285
35	Shanahan T M, Overpeck J T, Wheeler C W, Beck J W, Pigati J S, Talbot M R, Scholz C A, Peck J, King J W (2006). Paleoclimatic variations in West Africa from a record of late Pleistocene and Holocene lake level stands of Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 242(3‒4): 287–302 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.06.007
36	Shen C D, Yi W X, Liu T S (1994). 10Be records in loess with high resolution and the dating of loess strata. Quaternary Sciences, 14(3): 203–213 (in Chinese)
37	Sun J M, Xu L L (2007). River terraces in the Fenwei Graben, Central China, and the relation with the tectonic history of the India Asia collision belt during the Quaternary. Quaternary Sciences, 27(1): 20–26 (in Chinese)
38	Urabe A, Tateishi M, Inouchi Y , Matsuoka H , Inoue T , Dmytriev A , Khlystov O M (2004). Lake-level changes during the past 100,000 years at Lake Baikal, southern Siberia. Quat Res, 62(2): 214–222 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2004.06.002
39	Wang N L, Yang J C, Xia Z K (1996). The Sediment and Tectonic Landform during Cenozoic in the Fen River Drainage Basin. Beijing: Science Press, 120 ‒ 205, 334–346 (in Chinese)
40	Wang Y (2001). Heat flow pattern and lateral variations of lithosphere strength in China mainland: constraints on active deformation. Phys Earth Planet Inter, 126(3‒4): 121–146 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9201(01)00251-5
41	Wang Y P (1979). The earthquakes in the intra-plate in China and the features of the stress field in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Seismology and Geology, 1(3): 1–11 (in Chinese)
42	Xia Z K (1992). The study on the change of ancient lake shore of Datong-Yangyuan Basin. Geogr Res, 11(2): 52–59 (in Chinese)
43	Xu X W, Ma X Y (1992). Geodynamics of the Shanxi Rift system, China. Tectonophysics, 208(1‒3): 325–340 https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(92)90353-8
44	Yang C S, Zhang Q, Zhao C Y , Wang Q L , Ji L Y (2014). Monitoring land subsidence and fault deformation using the small baseline subset InSAR technique: a case study in the Datong Basin, China. J Geodyn, 75: 34–40 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jog.2014.02.002
45	Yang J C (1987). The alluvial terraces and neotectonics in the south sector of the Fen River. In: Research Group of State Seismological Bureau, ed. The Tectonic Stress and Crust Structure. Beijing: Geology Press, 132–136 (in Chinese)
46	Yue L P, Xue X X (1996). China Loess and Paleomagnetism. Beijing: Geology Press, 58–70 (in Chinese)
47	Zhang X Y, An Z S, Chen T , Zhang G Y, Arimoto R, Ray B J (1994). Late Quaternary records of the atmospheric input of eolian dust to the center of the Chinese loess plateau. Quat Res, 41(1): 35–43 https://doi.org/10.1006/qres.1994.1004
48	Zhang Y M, Wang L M, Dong R S (1979). Discussion on the changes of Cenozoic tectonic stress field in the eastern part of north China. Seismology and Geology, 1(1): 23–28 (in Chinese)
49	Zhang Y Q, Mercier J L, Vergely P (1998). Extension in the graben systems around the Ordos (China), and its contribution to the extrusion tectonics of south China with respect to Gobi-Mongolia. Tectonophysics, 285(1‒2): 41–75 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-1951(97)00170-4
50	Zhao H, Wang C M, Mao H L, Lu Y C, Liu L J, Ji Y P, Zhao H M (2012). OSL dating of volcanic baked sediment in Datong area, Shangxi Provience of China. Quaternary Sciences, 32(3): 510–515 (in Chinese)

Viewed

Full text

Abstract

Cited

Shared

Discussed