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The Brenner Fault is one of the most important normal faults in the Eastern Alps as it accommodates uplift and lateral extrusion of the Tauern Window. Consequently, understanding its kinematic history is important for studying the dynamics of the Eastern Alps, in particular the Tauern Window. However, the timing of fault activity remains debated. Based on low‐temperature thermochronometry, it has been proposed that the fault has not moved since approximately 9 Ma. However, recent seismicity suggests that it is still active. We bridge this time gap by applying electron spin resonance (ESR) dating on quartz. This ultra‐low temperature thermochronometer has a closure temperature of 80–50°C and therefore enables the study of the most recent footwall exhumation. Our ESR thermochronometric ages obtained from the Brenner area ranged from 0.38 ± 0.02 to >3.34 ± 0.63 Ma. The lateral distribution of these ages suggests that exhumation was caused by a combination of tectonic activity and glacial/fluvial erosion over the last million years. Exhumation occurred mostly within the first 500 m of the footwall of the Brenner Fault. Using 2D thermokinematic inverse modeling, constrained by the ESR data, we estimate the movement on the fault to a slip rate of 3.0 ± 0.7 mm/yr over the last million years. Our results, together with previous data, imply that the Brenner Fault has been almost constantly active for 19 Ma until the present‐day.

An Erratum to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1028334X23050069

The lack in practise of applying special engineering-tectonic studies in the course of standard engineering surveys does not allow us to fully take into account the features of engineering-geological conditions of mountainous territories.In the work for the section of the Black Sea coast from Gelendzhik to Tuapse, which is part of the Afipsko-Defanovskaya orographic stage, a detailed study of discontinuous structures was carried out using cartographic constructions. The use of the GIS technology tool made it possible to carry out an overlay analysis of maps of morphometric indicators, as well as to draw up a diagram of tectonic blocks. The results showed good convergence with the data obtained earlier on a smaller scale. This provided the basis for zoning the territory according to the degree of favorability of engineering and tectonic conditions with the involvement of morphometric and tectonic features. The study of this territory was conducted for the first time and contributes to the clarification of its neotectonic structure, expanding the scope of application of structural and geomorphological methods based on GIS technologies in engineering and geological research.

Red clay (RC)/mudstone is widely distributed on the Loess Plateau (LP) in China. As a sliding-prone stratum, it controls the formation of loess–mudstone landslides together with active faults. This paper examines the distribution of RC/mudstone and active faults, especially seismogenic faults, and explains their relationship with the distribution of landslides in groups and belts and the difference in landslide scales. Additionally, the paper investigates the scale and mobility of the seismic landslides. All the data of the strata, landslides, active faults, and geotechnical properties come from published documents and geological field investigations. The results reveal that (1) differences in the neotectonic activity and the distribution and outcrops of RC/mudstone affect the landslide type and scale; (2) the landslides are mainly densely distributed along rivers and fault zones and are characterized by an obvious scale difference along a river; and (3) the landslides triggered by seismogenic fault activity and earthquake activity are mainly concentrated in the Neogene mudstone basin to the west of the Liupan mountain range. The abundant data provide a reference and foundation for the engineering geologist and lay a scientific foundation for subsequent investigation, hazard zonation, prediction and forecasting, regional prevention, and control of landslide disasters on the LP.

We developed a high-resolution magnetochronology of the Pleistocene stratigraphy of the Monte Netto hillock, a tectonically uplifted structure in the Po Plain of northern Italy. Our data allowed reconstructing the depositional age of the sequence and assessing rates of deformation and rock uplift of the neotectonic structure, thus providing constraints on the tectono-sedimentary evolution of this seismically active part of the buried Southern Alps. Using a combination of magnetostratigraphy and paleosecular variation analysis, we generated an age-depth model for the Monte Netto stratigraphy that encompasses, from the top, Upper Pleistocene (11–72 ka) loess-paleosols overlaying fluvial sediments spanning the Brunhes-Matuyama boundary (773 ka) and the top of the Jaramillo (990 ka). The identification of the same magneto-chronostratigraphic surfaces in nearby drill cores from regions of the Po Plain that have not been affected by neotectonic deformation allowed estimating a mean rate of tectonic uplift of the hillock relative to the neighboring plain of 11.3 ± 1.5 cm/ka, and an absolute uplift relative to sea level of ~19.3 cm/ka. Finally, our paleomagnetic analyses from the uppermost loess sequence disclosed the complexity of the tectonic evolution of the Monte Netto structure, which shows evidence of a two-phase rotational deformation linked to coseismic surface faulting due to recent seismic activity.

AbstractThe studied Lantar-Nemuy depression is confined between Dzhugdzhur and Pribrezhny ridges extending along the western coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. The recorded anomalies in the river network structure and occurrence of ancient alluvial deposits suggest repeated displacements of river channels and valley restructuring. The traces of such changes are detected also at the axial part of Dzhugdzhur Ridge: the rivers belonging to the Sea of Okhotsk basin extend their length gradually, the water divide between the Arctic and Pacific oceans being shifted towards northwest. A few cases of rivers captures by the sea have been documented in the coastal part of the region. The river network alterations may result from various causes: differentiated neotectonics movements, the Pleistocene glaciations (glacier development and degradation), accumulation of genetically diversified deposits in river valleys; retrogressive erosion, and marine erosion.

The present research focuses on the recent tectonic activities and their effect on quaternary deposition such as channel bars in the 80 km × 50 km river corridor of the Darjeeling Himalayan Foothill Region (DHFR). The active orogeny belt has direct control over the fluvial deposition in the master river systems of Tista, Jaldhaka, and Torsa and their sub-systems of Neora, Murti, Kurti, Lish, Gish, Chel, and Mal. The present research has used some indices like the stream-length gradient index , mountain front sinuosity , valley-floor width to valley height ratio , and especially longitudinal profiles of the river. Channel bar area, longest length, width of channel bar, elongation ratio, relative relief, and relief ratio were calculated to get the introspect of neotectonic response on channel bars morphodynamic. The results on selected 10 channel bars of the upper DHFR depict that they are highly affected by neotectonic deformation. The channel bars of the middle part of the DHFR also have significant morphological signatures of tectonic movements. The reflection of these active tectonics is visible in the channel bars of the lower DHFR. These channel bars show a high rate of aggradation responsible for continuously changing the morphology and morphometry of these bars.

This paper presents a synthetic view of the geodynamic evolution of the Zagros orogen within the frame of the Arabia–Eurasia collision. The Zagros orogen and the Iranian plateau preserve a record of the long-standing convergence history between Eurasia and Arabia across the Neo-Tethys, from subduction/obduction processes to present-day collision (from ~ 150 to 0 Ma). We herein combine the results obtained on several geodynamic issues, namely the location of the oceanic suture zone, the age of oceanic closure and collision, the magmatic and geochemical evolution of the Eurasian upper plate during convergence (as testified by the successive Sanandaj–Sirjan, Kermanshah and Urumieh–Dokhtar magmatic arcs), the P–T–t history of the few Zagros blueschists, the convergence characteristics across the Neo-Tethys (kinematic velocities, tomographic constraints, subduction zones and obduction processes), together with a survey of recent results gathered by others. We provide lithospheric-scale reconstructions of the Zagros orogen from ~ 150 to 0 Ma across two SW–NE transects. The evolution of the Zagros orogen is also compared to those of the nearby Turkish and Himalayan orogens. In our geotectonic scenario for the Zagros convergence, we outline three main periods/regimes: (1) the Mid to Late Cretaceous (115–85 Ma) corresponds to a distinctive period of perturbation of subduction processes and interplate mechanical coupling marked by blueschist exhumation and upper-plate fragmentation, (2) the Paleocene–Eocene (60–40 Ma) witnesses slab break-off, major shifts in arc magmatism and distributed extension within the upper plate, and (3) from the Oligocene onwards (~ 30–0 Ma), collision develops with a progressive SW migration of deformation and topographic build-up (Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone: 20–15 Ma, High Zagros: ~12–8 Ma; Simply Folded Belt: 5–0 Ma) and with partial slab tear at depths (~10 Ma to present). Our reconstructions underline the key role played by subduction throughout the whole convergence history. We finally stress that such a long-lasting subduction system with changing boundary conditions also makes the Zagros orogen an ideal natural laboratory for subduction processes.

We develop a kinematic model for the transition from subduction beneath the North Island, New Zealand, to strike‐slip in the South Island, constrained by GPS velocities and active fault slip data. To interpret these data, we use an approach that inverts the kinematic data for poles of rotation of tectonic blocks and the degree of interseismic coupling on faults in the region. Convergence related to the Hikurangi subduction margin becomes very low offshore of the northern South Island, indicating that in this region the majority of the relative plate motion has been transferred onto faults within the upper plate, as suggested by previous studies. This result has implications for understanding the likely extent of subduction interface earthquake rupture in central New Zealand. Easterly trending strike slip faults (such as the Boo Boo fault) are the key features that facilitate the transfer of strike‐slip motion from the northern South Island faults further north into the southern North Island and onto the Hikurangi subduction thrust. Our results also indicate that the transition from rapid forearc rotation adjacent to the Hikurangi subduction margin to a strike‐slip dominated plate boundary (with negligible vertical‐axis rotation) in the South Island occurs via a crustal‐scale hinge or kink in the upper plate, compatible with paleomagnetic and structural geological data. Despite the ongoing tectonic evolution of the central New Zealand region, our study highlights a remarkable consistency between data sets spanning decades (GPS), thousands of years (active faulting data), and millions of years (paleomagnetic data and bedrock structure). Key Points Active fault and GPS data used to constrain strike‐slip to subduction in NZ Excellent agreement between short‐term (GPS) and longer‐term (active fault) data New model for subduction interface coupling at Hikurangi margin