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Earth fissures in Qinglong Graben in Yuncheng Basin, China

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Abstract

Qinglong Graben is located in southeastern Yuncheng Basin, China flanked by two north-east trending normal faults, where the geological condition is favourable for generating earth fissures. Since 1978, five earth fissures have formed in Qinglong Gaben. In the present work, a series of geological investigation consisting of site investigation, geological drilling and trench excavation was used to characterise and determine the reasons for the formation of the earth fissures. The site investigation indicated that the trend of the five earth fissures are parallel to the general strike of the normal fault, i.e., geological drilling and trench studies revealed that syn-sedimentary fault is the key reason for the formation of the earth fissures. Additionally, over-exploitation of groundwater and erosion process are important factors in the development and expansion of the earth fissures in Qinglong Graben. The earth fissures forming process in Qinglong Graben can be divided into three stages: the regional extension first caused normal faults under the surface, and then the pum** action of excessive groundwater induced the normal faults propagate to the surface, and finally the erosion promoted the formation of the current earth fissure.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wound like to thank China Geological Survey for supporting this work and acknowledge the great help and support from all who participated in the works carried out for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geological Engineering and Geomatics, Chang’an University, **’an, 710 054, Shaanxi, China

    Jianwei Qiao, Jianbing Peng, Yahong Deng, Yanqiu Leng & Zhenjiang Meng

  2. Key Laboratory of Western China Mineral Resources and Geological Engineering, **’an, 710 054, Shaanxi, China

    Jianbing Peng

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  1. Jianwei Qiao
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  2. Jianbing Peng
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  3. Yahong Deng
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  4. Yanqiu Leng
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Correspondence to Jianbing Peng.

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Corresponding editor: Saibal Gupta

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Qiao, J., Peng, J., Deng, Y. et al. Earth fissures in Qinglong Graben in Yuncheng Basin, China. J Earth Syst Sci 127, 10 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-017-0912-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-017-0912-1

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