Active faults and dip slip rates along the northern margins of the Huashan Mountain and Weinan loess tableland in the southeastern Weihe Graben, central China

• 14 AMS 14C and OSL ages in southeast of Weihe Graben are newly obtained.
• HPF experienced three seismic activities during the Holocene, but NMF-WLT only one.
• To get a more reliable long-term dip slip rates is about 0.6 mm/yr in HPF.

Two active faults, including the Huashan piedmont fault (HPF) along the northern margin of Huashan Mountain and the north margin fault of the Weinan loess tableland (NMF-WLT), were developed in the southeastern Weihe Graben, in central China. HPF, which is the most active fault in the Weihe Graben, is known throughout the world for the M81/4 great Guanzhong earthquake in 1556 AD. Through field investigation, AMS 14C, and OSL dating in this paper, in combination with previous studies, the following results are obtained: (i) Tectonic landforms, such as triangular fault facets, waterfalls and fault scraps of proluvial fans, were developed in the HPF, but these features were not developed in the NMF-WLT. (ii) HPF experienced three intensive seismic activities in 5920–7670 Cal yr BP, 2215 ± 95–3105 ± 105 Cal yr BP and 1556 AD during the Holocene, but there has only been one seismic event noted for the NMF-WLT since the Holocene (6865 ± 80 Cal yr BP). (iii) The dip-slip rate of the HPF was approximately 0.64 mm/yr since the mid-Pleistocene and approximately 1.67–2.71 mm/yr in the Holocene. In contrast, the dip-slip rate of NMF-WLT was approximately 0.32–0.42 mm/yr since the early Pleistocene and was approximately 0.39–0.58 mm/yr from the late Pleistocene to the Holocene. (iv) The seismic activity at the HPF has been more intense than at the NMF-WLT; the HPF was the triggering seismic fault of the M81/4 great Guanzhong earthquake in 1556 AD, whereas the NMF-WLT was not the seismogenic fault of this event. These results provide new information for the study of active tectonics of the Weihe Graben.