Characteristics and mechanism of Jiaocheng ground fissure in Taiyuan basin, China

Abstract The Fenwei basin, within 612 ground fissures developed, is the most concentrated and serious area in China and even in the world for the development of ground fissure hazards. The Jiaocheng ground fissure in the Taiyuan basin is known for its length and for inflicting the most damage and having the most impact in China. To discover the origin of the Jiaocheng ground fissure, surveying, trenching, and geophysical exploration were used to investigate its geological basis, developmental characteristics, and genetic process. With a total 46 km length and an 80–120 m impact bandwidth, it is one of the longest ground fissures found in the world. The fissure is on the Jiaocheng fault's hanging wall, and the NE strike is quite consistent with this fault. Houses, roads, fields, and other structures have all been damaged to varying degrees by the fissure. Vertical dislocation, horizontal tension, and right-lateral slide are the most common types. This fissure has synsedimentary features, according to trenching and shallow seismic profiling. The Jiaocheng ground fissure was formed because of the interaction of several forces. Due to regional extension, the Jiaocheng fault shifted, creating a rupture system in the surface strata. The pumping activity contributes to the formation of the current ground fissure. This effort promotes research into fissure mechanics and has implications for disaster prevention and mitigation of ground fissures.