Soft sediment deformation structures in the Lixian lacustrine sediments, eastern Tibetan Plateau and implications for postglacial seismic activity

The eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau is characterized by frequent earthquakes, which are closely associated with tectonic activity. To assess tectonic activity during the Late Pleistocene, we studied a well-exposed, 23-m-thick lacustrine sequence on the eastern margin of the plateau and found a variety of soft-sediment deformation (SSD) structures. Distributed in 24 stratigraphic levels, they comprise clastic dykes, ball-and-pillow structures, flame structures, clastic gravels, micro-faults, and slump folds. Most of the SSD structures indicate deformation mechanisms related to liquefaction and/or fluidization processes, most probably triggered by paleoseismic events. Given at least 4 historical earthquakes of M > 7 in the study area, most SSD structures in the Lixian lacustrine sequence indicate seismic events with M > 6 while simple flame structures point to some lower-magnitude earthquakes. OSL dating indicates that the sequence accumulated between 15.8 and 6.0 ka, giving a mean recurrence interval of 480 years for the 24 events, and demonstrating that lacustrine sediments in eastern Tibet have the potential to record a continuous seismic history on the centennial scale.