Knowledge of the kinematics of thrusts is the key to understanding mountain building processes in compressive ranges; however, relatively little attention has been paid to distributed deformation (on-fault and off-fault such as rotation and warping) across a thrust fault. Distributed deformation is widespread along the northern front of the Qilian Shan, in the NE Tibetan Plateau. In the Daciyao River, of the central North Qilian Shan, the East Yumu Shan Fault (EYF) splays into four parallel faults at the piedmont. The Daciyao River flows across the deformation zone and its terrace landform record provides a valuable geomorphic marker for reconstructing the cumulative deformation. Terrace deformation across the fault splays was estimated with measured longitudinal profiles using differential GPS, and the fault slip was reconstructed by applying the trishear model, a widely applied model used to explain the geometry of basement-related structures. At least 10 strath terraces are formed with bedrock bases developed into Neogene red beds along the mountain front. The age of one of the terraces (T8) was constrained by Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating of the overlying aeolian loess, which provide a minimum age (68 ka) for the age of terrace abandonment. The survey data and trishear model results suggest that the fault splays are bending-moment faults (BMF), originating from a fault propagation fold. Based on the fault and fold geometry across the EYF, the total vertical slip rate is estimated as 0.9–1.2 mm/yr. Slip rates on the EYF are consistent along-strike during the Late Pleistocene but they are twice as high during the Holocene, indicating a high potential for large earthquakes along this fault. This work also indicates that to calculate accurate total slip rate, terrace heights must be measured outside of the distributed broad zone.

了解推力的运动学是理解压缩范围内山地建造过程的关键。然而，对推力断层上的分布变形（断层和断层，例如旋转和翘曲）的关注相对较少。分布变形在东北青藏高原的祁连山北缘广泛分布。在北祁连山中部的大溪河中，东榆木山断层（EYF）在山前扩展成四个平行断层。大溪谷河流经变形带，其阶地地貌记录为重建累积变形提供了宝贵的地貌标志。使用差分GPS通过测得的纵向剖面估算了整个断层上的阶地变形，通过应用三剪切模型重建断层滑动，该模型广泛用于解释地下室相关结构的几何形状。至少有10条斯特拉斯阶地，沿山前形成了基岩基础，形成了新近纪红色层。其中一个梯田（T8）的年龄受到上覆风成黄土的光刺激发光（OSL）年代的约束，这为梯田废弃的年龄提供了最小年龄（68 ka）。调查数据和三剪切模型结果表明，断层张开是弯矩断层（BMF），起源于断层的传播褶皱。根据整个EYF断层和褶皱的几何形状，总垂直滑移速率估计为0.9-1.2 mm / yr。EYF的滑移率在晚更新世期间是一致的，但是在全新世期间则是后者的两倍，这表明该断层沿大地震的可能性很高。这项工作还表明，要计算准确的总滑移率，必须在分布的宽阔区域之外测量平台高度。