Tectonically, the large-scale right-lateral strike-slip movement along the Red River fault zone is char-acterized at its late phase with the southeastward extension and deformation of the Northwestern Yunnan normal fault depression on its northern segment, and the dextral shear displacement on its central-southern segment. Research of the relations between stratum deformation and fault movement on the typical fault segments, such as Jianchuan, southeast Midu, Yuanjiang River, Yuanyang, etc. since the Miocene Epoch shows that there are two times dextral faulting dominated by normal shearing occurring along the Red River fault zone since the Miocene Epoch. The fission track dating (abbrevi-ated to FT dating, the same below) is conducted on apatite samples collected from the above fault segments and relating to these movements. Based on the measured single grain’s age and the con-fined track length, we choose the Laslet annealing model to retrieve the thermal history of the samples, and the results show that the fault zone experienced two times obvious shear displacement, one in 5.5 ± 1.5 MaBP and the other in 2.1± 0.8 MaBP. The central-southern segment sees two intensive uplifts of mountain mass in the Yuanjiang River-Yuanyang region at 3.6―3.8 MaBP and 1.6―2.3 MaBP, which correspond to the above-mentioned two dextral normal displacement events since the late Miocene Epoch.
The northern section of Lijiang Basin (NSLB) has the features of a zigzag fault, a kind of 'tracing extension' in the shape. Fault slip is characterized by both extension and sinistral shear. Average sinistral-shear and extensional displacements are respectively 1950 and 1730 m. This kind of movement began in middle Pleistocene, which is about 800 ka ago. Average sinistral and extensional slip-rates can be acquired, which are 2.44 and 2.16 mm/a. Geological evidence at different segments of the NSLB demonstrates results of geomorphic analysis, and is consistent with our knowledge about the zigzag fault. Realization of sinistral shear and extension of the NSLB provides direct evidence for the model of clockwise rotation of northwest Sichuan active block and the understanding of dynamic features of the Red River fault zone.
