Tectonic Models of the Tan-Lu Fault Zone, Eastern China

Abstract

The Tan-Lu fault zone, with hundreds of km of sinistral displacenent, is one of the largest continental strike-slip faults in the world. Four tectonic models recently proposed for the fault zone are reviewed in this paper: (1) intracontinental transcurrent fault, (2) suture line, (3) intracontinental transform fault, (4) and collision-related indentation. We propose that the Tan-Lu fault zone is a major transcurrent fault developed on the inner, continental side of the northwestern circum-Pacific margin. This conclusion is based on the shape and extension of the fault zone, correlation of blocks on either side of the zone, Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous displacement time, and the sinistral fault origin of the northward-projecting Northern Jiangsu Massif.