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.
Part of the book: Tectonics