Abstract: The Zhifang fault is located at northeastern Xinjiang. It is a NW-striking active fault at northern Tianshan. Its length is about 140 km. It connects Altay Maintain at the north end, and closes to the east Tianshan at the south end. Its east side is Gobi-Altay Mountain. Many large earthquakes occurred around the fault. There are no historical earthquake recorded on the Zhifang fault, which indicates that it is a typical earthquake gap located at the boundary of Ⅰ and Ⅱ active blocks. The seismic hazard and fault activities are interesting issues. This paper presents the results of field survey, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photos, trenches, and chronology. It shows that the Zhifang fault is a Holocene active fault with main right-lateral strike component and some thrust component. The latest event was occurred at 1730—5170 aB.P., with 0.5 m vertical displacement. The latest earthquake elapse time is larger than 1730 aB.P. The distribution characteristics and hydro-geological conditions of two small oases near the fault is studied. The results show that the fault activities played important role on the formation of the oases.

Key words: Zhifang fault, Oasis, North Tianshan, Fault activity, Trench