Abstract: According to historical records, in 1038, an M71/2 earthquake occurred in Xinzhou and Dingxiang County. Previous studies have shown that the seismogenic structure of this earthquake is the northern piedmont of Xizhoushan Fault, the epicenter of which is located near Chafangkou, Dongcun town, Dingxiang County. The leveling of the Chafangkou segment of the northern piedmont fault of Xizhoushan fault began in 1985, and the two plates of the fault moved at a total of 9.09 mm to 2021, with an average annual creep slip of 0.25 mm. The trend of creep deformation shows that there is creep movement in the segment of Chafangkou every year, but the overall creep rate is low. The content of clay in the seismic fault sumple of Chafangkou is 23% by using the method of X-ray diffraction, the clay content of fault breccia near the fault is 8%, and the total clay mineral content decreases gradually from old fault mud to fault breccia. The study shows that the clay content is the key factor to determine whether the fault is creeping or not. The natural fault of the northern piedmont of Xizhoushan fault is simulated in the confining pressure environment of 5 km underground (about 130 MPa), and high temperature and high pressure experiments were carried out at a constant disturbing pressure of 100 MPa. The results show that the natural faults in the northern piedmont of Xizhoushan fault exhibit steady creep slip at the temperature of 25℃, 50℃, 100℃ and 150℃ and the disturbing velocity of 0.122 μm/s and 1.22 μm/s。

Key words: The northern piedmont fault of Xizhoushan, Cross-fault leveling, X-ray diffraction analysis, High temperature and high pressure experiment