The Shentou Fault is a boundary fault with a strike of nearly EW in the southwestern part of the Datong Basin, the northern part of the Shanxi Graben System. It controls the northern boundary of the Shuozhou Sag, a secondary sag of Datong Basin, and has formed a typical mountain-basin landscape. However, previous studies have paid little attention to the activity and tectonic topographical features of this fault. Geomorphological parameters are effective for studying active tectonics. This study utilized high-precision DEM data and GIS spatial analysis techniques to extract and analyze geomorphological parameters of 16 longitudinal rivers along the Shentou Fault and their underlying bedrock watershed areas, including river slope gradient index SL, standardized steepness index Ksn, and hypsometric integral HI. The results show that the SL values of rivers mainly range from 9 to 300 and SL/K values mainly range from 0.1 to 3.0, with relatively high values near the Shentou Fault; Ksn values range from 17 to 57, and HI values range from 0.29 to 0.53. We analyzed and discussed the influencing factors of these indices and comprehensively analyzed the response of river geomorphological parameters to tectonics combining with field geological surveys. Referring to the grading standards for various geomorphological indicators, the results indicate that tectonic activity of the Shentou Fault is relatively weak. Field geological and geomorphological surveys indicate that the Shentou Fault was active in the Late Pleistocene but showed no activity in the Holocene, which is consistent with the conclusions drawn from the analysis of geomorphological parameters. It is considered that there is relatively low activity of Shentou Fault.
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