Tectonic terraced mountain slopes as the indicator of paleoearthquakes.

Abstract

We describe terraced mountain slopes revealed in two areas of the Lower Priamurye Region. The terraced slopes are located in areas where active neotectonic block movements occurred in different directions and quite strong earthquakes took place and paleoseismodislocations like seismogenic trenches and collapses in historical time are identified. A detailed study of the slopes has established tectonic displacements and indications of extension in the local faults that separate the terraces on the steep rock slopes and fragments of coarse striations and slickensides on the block surfaces. We concluded that the morphology of the terraced mountain slopes on the studied areas is caused by seismic events.