Publication Date:
2017-05-23
Description:
The endorheic Gaxun Nur Basin (GNB, local name: Ejina basin), which is located north of the Tibetan Plateau between the tectonic stress fields of the Qilian Shan and the Gobi-Tienshan, has evolved as a large inland basin filled with deltaic sediments during the past 250 ka. Here we present selected examples of geomorphological, sedimentological and geophysical evidence of tectonic activity and discuss a possible time frame of selected occurrences.
We used medium-scale geomorphological mapping supported by analyses of Landsat ETM images, Corona images and an Aster Digital Terrain Model (Aster-DTM), combined with field surveys, dated sediment sections, and geophysical investigations using electromagnetic methods.
The spatio-temporal distribution of radiocarbon-dated lake sediments within the northern GNB indicates a non-even distribution of neotectonic activity with west–east increasing amplitude of subsidence rates from 0.8–1.1 m/ka in the western part and more than three times higher rates in the eastern part.
Our data indicate that tectonic has strongly amplified climate-induced environmental changes and may be regarded as an example of non-climatic pulses affecting lake-hydrology and basin development.
Type:
Book chapter
,
NonPeerReviewed
Format:
text
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