**Soft Sediment Deformation Structures Triggered by the Earthquakes: Response to the High Frequent Tectonic Events during the Main Tectonic Movements Earthquakes: Response to the High Frequent Tectonic Events during the Main Tectonic Movements**

**Soft Sediment Deformation Structures Triggered by the** 

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.72941

Bizhu He, Xiufu Qiao, Haibing Li and Dechen Su Bizhu He, Xiufu Qiao, Haibing Li and Dechen Su Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.72941

#### **Abstract**

Typical cases of the soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDSs), triggered by the modern earthquakes to the oldest of paleo-earthquakes in the Mesoproterozoic, have been observed in China. These deformation structures have various geometry morphology, different interior structural architectures and sediment compositions, in centimetre to metre-scales. They are intercalated with the undeformed layers, which are composed of similar sediments of lithology and sedimentary environments. SSDSs are formed during sediments deposited but incompletely consolidated. And they exist in different periods and are closely related to the active or paleo-active faults. They occur nearby the faults and usually have the characteristics nearer to the faults and more. And they distribute parallel to the trending of the active faults and have the characters of the vertical duplication. They have responded to the high-frequency activity of different faults in tectonic movement and are the perfect records of the paleo-active faults.

**Keywords:** soft sediment deformation structure, triggering mechanism, records of earthquakes, high-frequent tectonic events, paleo-active faults
