Earth fissures in qinglong graben in yuncheng basin, China

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 pumping action of excessive groundwater induced the normal faults propagate to the surface, and finally the erosion promoted the formation of the current earth fissure.