Sedimentary deformation features as evidence for paleoseismic events in the middle Eocene in the Dongying Depression of the southern Bohai Bay Basin, eastern China

Abstract

Cores from the middle Eocene sediments of the Dongying Depression of the southern Bohai Bay Basin in east China yield various kinds of sedimentary deformation structures. They include microfolds, load casts, flame structures, ball-and-pillow structures, load-cast ripples, pinch-and-swell structures, boudinage structures, sand dikes, microfaults, and cataclastic breccias. Gravity flows, including turbidites and debris flows, also occur in the study area. The deformation layers can be divided into plastic deformation and brittle deformation types. These develop in a succession composed mainly of dark finely laminated and massive mudstone interbedded with thin sandstones and carbonate rocks that accumulated in a low-energy semi-deep to deep lacustrine environment in a tectonically active setting. Considering the facies attributes in the study area, intrinsically possible trigger mechanisms such as rapid sediment loading and storm currents are absent. Thus, the sedimentary deformation features should be induced by seismic activity, and the same with the gravity flows. These seismites are interpreted to have originated from earthquakes with magnitudes exceeding M 5.6. Basin-controlling faults in the north border of Dongying Depression give rise to the occurrence of seismites. The increasing occurrence frequency of seismites from Es4u to Es3l corresponds with the increase in the activity velocity of the basin-controlling faults. Compared with the seismites developed in other fault depressions in the Bohai Bay Basin, seismites developed in the Dongying Depression are relatively smaller scale and are dominated by microfault layers, relatively more cohesive sediments, and greater distance between seismites and active faults results in the occurrence of these features.