Research Support
SPIRITS

International cooperation based on the study of great paleoearthquakes and decline of the Sanxingdui civilization

Project Gist

Study on the relationship between ancient civilization and large paleoearthquakes.

Keywords

active fault, earthquake, civilization, natural hazards, earthquake disaster prevention

Background, Purpose, and Project Achievements

The ruins of ancient civilizations damaged by large palaeoearthquakes, which have been reported worldwide, are often used as surface markers for Holocene tectonic and palaeoseismic events. Previous studies have demonstrated that recurring palaeoearthquakes have caused repeated soil liquefaction at the same site, leaving a record in both sediments and ancient ruins; such records can reveal a great deal about earthquakes that occurred prior to human-recorded observations or measurements. The Sanxingdui civilization, which developed on the Sichuan Plain, central China, during the Bronze Age (ca. 4800 years ago), flourished from ca. 4200 to ca. 3500 years ago until its sudden disappearance ca. 3200 years ago. Subsequently, the Jinsha civilization arose in the area around Chengdu city, ca. 40 km southwest of the Sanxingdui site, but it too suddenly disappeared ca. 2500–2200 years ago. It has been speculated that floods or regime changes might explain the collapse of both civilizations,. but no solid evidence for such causes has so far been reported. The purpose of this project is to understand the relationship between large palaeo-earthquakes and the abrupt unexplained falls of the Sanxingdui and Jinsha civilizations. We are carrying out an international cooperation between China and Japan as well as other countries.

Future Prospects

On the basis the results obtained in this study, we will try to organize an international team for cooperation on the intracontinental active faults and paleoearthquakes. This project is expected to have a large impact on the seismological, geological, archaeological and historical community as well as the earthquake hazard community.

Figures

boundary between the western Sichuan Plain and the Longmen Shan mountains, showing topographic features and the locations of ancient civilization centres and liquefaction sites.

Principal Investigator

LIN Aiming

・LIN Aiming
・Graduate School of Science
・Dr. Aiming LIN is currently a professor of Geophysics at Kyoto University, Japan. He obtained his Ph.D in 1992 from the Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo. He has been working on earthquake geology and active Neotectonism. He is particularly interested in the rupture dynamics and mechanics of large earthquakes, tectonic history of active faults and formation mechanisms of fault rocks generated within seismogenic fault zones from brittle to ductile regimes. Recently, he is focusing on the relationship between the great paleo-earthquakes and the fall of Sanxingdui and Jinsha civilizations.
http://www-crus.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/crus/Lin_j.htm