Quaternary Crustal Shortening of the Houyanshan Structure in the Eastern Chinese Tian Shan: Constrained from Geological and Geomorphological Analyses
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Dear Authors,
I think your paper can be accepted. I only want to suggest few corrections of the text:
Line 237. ... terrestrial sediments ... may be continental? Any sediments on Earth are terrestrial.
Line 242 ...significant marker for defining....
Line 246 ... overlie unconformably the Jurassic strata
or
lie unconformably on the Jurassic strata
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 1:
We deeply appreciate the time and effort you have spent in reviewing our manuscript entitled “Quaternary crustal shortening of the Houyanshan structure in the eastern Chinese Tian Shan: constrained from geological and geomorphological analyses”[ID:2176170]. These comments are all valuable and helpful for revising and improving our paper. We have studied comments carefully and have made corrections which we hope will satisfy the points brought up by you. We have address the comments point-by-point. Please see the attachment.
Best Regards!
Xue Yang
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear Authors,
Please, follow my suggestions collected in the attached manuscript.
Regards
The reviewer
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 2:
We deeply appreciate the time and effort you have spent in reviewing our manuscript entitled “Quaternary crustal shortening of the Houyanshan structure in the eastern Chinese Tian Shan: constrained from geological and geomorphological analyses”[ID:2176170]. We have studied comments carefully and followed all the detailed corrections and modifications suggested by you. These comments are all valuable and helpful for revising and improving our paper. Please see the attachment for the point-by-point response to comments.
Best Regards!
Xue Yang
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report
The authors describe very well the problem in the area of study, and they propose a specific workflow on how to approach it. The specific and innovative workflow help to analyze and characterize the natural fractures in the area of study using surface and subsurface data. This workflow integrates multiple data that help to build a deterministic structural model that combined the observed features on the surface and the interpreted features in the subsurface.
This model highlights the major fractures that are responsible for the shorting to understand the basin’s geological evolution as well as the impact of the deep fractures on the basin structure and on the different strata. This approach brought new insight into this basin and could guide future studies or be adapted in other places around the world based on the available data such as geological maps, aerial photos, satellite images, 2D/3D seismic, gravity, and magnetic data.
Different scales of observation from aerial to field, to seismic, and different types of data such as DEM, field measurements, and 2D seismic data have permitted the authors to highlight the dimension of natural fractures and their impacts on the observed structures.
The approach and methods are well described. Also, the region of study is well defined by describing the geology of the area using some references and literature and also some field data taken during the field trips.
The authors describe well the used materials and the data generated that were utilized to characterize and interpret the different structural and sedimentary features. The fracture characterization using field data (field measurements and drones) and seismic 2D help to determine the stress regime. fracture morphology, fracture typology, and fracture kinematics. Also, give a chronology of the different tectonic events that affected the zone of interest. The 3D block diagram was well used to illustrate the interpretive seismic 2D that supports the fracture observation on the surface and well illustrates the intensity, density, and fracture kinematics of natural fractures observed on the surface. These approaches allow us to understand the geological processes that affect the area of study, which are responsible for the generation of complex fracture patterns. These observations and methodologies will aid to predict and interpret the occurrence of these fracture patterns in the area where no 2D seismic is available.
The results and the data analysis are well-documented, and the steps are well-explained. However, some updates and illustrations should be done/redone to make this paper more strength.
1. Please increase the size of figure 1. Also, mention which scale is used for the earthquakes.
2. Increase the size of figure 2 and add a scale for figure 2b. Also, put figure 2c with the same scale as figures 2a and 2b. Mention the signification of the strike profiles 1, 2, and 3 mentioned in figure 2a. Are they seismic profiles?
3. Increase figure 3 and add in the caption the definitions of T, J1, and so on. Put the name of the Quaternary in black to be seen.
4. Increase the size of figure 4. Be consistent with the writing (Movement/movement …etc.). There is a typo, correct the word dynamic.
5. Increase the size of figure 4
6. Increase the size of figures 5 and 6
7. Redo figure 7 it appears blurry
8. For figures 9, 10, and 11. Please increase their sizes. Also, for each figure add its non-interpreted section
9. increase the size of figures 12, 13, and 14.
10. In conclusion, you said “ADS analysis reveals that the maximum shortening of the structure is ~4.5 km, which is consistent with a quantitative inverse model.” Would please be more explicit and give more arguments?
Thank you!
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 3:
We deeply appreciate the time and effort you have spent in reviewing our manuscript entitled “Quaternary crustal shortening of the Houyanshan structure in the eastern Chinese Tian Shan: constrained from geological and geomorphological analyses”[ID:2176170]. These comments are all valuable and helpful for revising and improving our paper. We have studied comments carefully and have made corrections which we hope will satisfy the points brought up by you. We have address the comments point-by-point. Please see the attachment.
Best Regards!
Xue Yang
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Reviewer 4 Report
The manuscript is well written and organized. The research significance is sound. I would recommend a moderate revision before acceptation.
1. The box line of Fig.2 in Fig.1 is not clear. The line color should be changed.
2. The meaning of T1-T6 in Fig.6 should be introduced in the caption. Meanwhile, necessary fault line should be noted in Fig.6.
3. Do you have drilling hole to constrain the vertical feature of the strata?
4. The surface GPS data are recommended to verify the movement velocity.
5. Regarding 5.3 The 2 Ma synchronous growth stage around the Tibetan Plateau, I have a question. The study area is located in the northern Tibetan Platea. How can you analyze the growth stage around the whole Tibetan Plateau. Meanwhile, other published evidence should be cited to make your results robust.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 4:
We deeply appreciate the time and effort you have spent in reviewing our manuscript entitled “Quaternary crustal shortening of the Houyanshan structure in the eastern Chinese Tian Shan: constrained from geological and geomorphological analyses”[ID:2176170]. These comments are all valuable and helpful for revising and improving our paper. We have studied comments carefully and have made corrections which we hope will satisfy the points brought up by you. We have address the comments point-by-point. Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Round 2
Reviewer 3 Report
Please redo Figure 12. There are typos in this figure. It's Horizon not Horozon
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 3
Thanks for the comments on this paper. We followed the correction. We have redone Figures 12-14 and changed the "Horozon" into "Horizon" in these figures.
Best Regards!
Xue Yang
