Reconstructing the Geometry of the Yushu Fault in the Tibetan Plateau Using TLS, GPR and Trenching
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Review for Zhang et al. “Reconstructing the Detailed Surficial and SubsurfaceGeometry of the Yushu Fault in the Tibetan Plateau Combining Terrestrial Laser
Scanning (TLS), Multi-frequencies Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and
Trenching”, submitted to Remote Sensing.
This is a very interesting manuscript on the use of terrestrial laser scanning and ground penetrating radar to analyse the near-surface structure of an active fault. The manuscript is suitable for a wide audience. It deserves to be published. However, I have a few points that should be considered prior to publication. My major point is that the discussion section needs some attention.
1. Line 12: What do you mean with “subsurface stratigraphy”? Please specify.
2. Lines 26, 183, 184, 530: Please put a space between the number and the SI unit (e.g., 2 m, not 2m).
3. Line 102: “…fault is almost regarded…” do you mean “…fault is commonly regarded…”
4. Line 240: What do you mean with “stratigraphic features”? Please specify.
5. In the abstract (line 22) and in the text in lines 434 – 435, as well as in figure 7 you describe three individual faults and also a “main fault zone”. The three faults seem to be part of the fault zone. According to the widely accepted international nomenclature, a “fault zone” is defined as the sum of all structural-mechanical units of a fault. The three closely space faults that you identified could be best described as a narrow “fault array” or a “fault system”. I recommend to call it a “narrow fault system” and to cite the following overview literature for the fault classification:
Van der Pluijim, B.A. & Marshak, S. (2004) Earth Structure. Norton & Company, 656 pp.
Brandes, C & Tanner, D. (2020) Fault mechanics and earthquakes. In: Tanner, D. & Brandes, C. (eds) Understanding Faults: Detecting, Dating, and Modeling, Elsevier, 11-80.
6. I think the discussion needs some attention. In the present form, it is not really a discussion. The text lines 456 – 473 reads like a part of a results chapter. Furthermore, the text lines 550 – 560 is more a text for the conclusions section than for a discussion. In a discussion, I expect a reflection of the data and results in the view of previous research, or in the view of comparable methods. The text line 474 – 508 is quite good and has many aspects that are expected in a discussion. However, literature has to be cited in a discussion. So far, this discussion has not a single reference. The discussion could be improved with a comparison of your own results with other studies from the literature (GPR studies at other strike-slip faults e.g., in New Zealand or at the North Anatolian fault). In a discussion, the limitations of the interpretation should be also evaluated.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 1 Comments
Thank you very much for your letter and the advices about our manuscript entitled “Reconstructing the Detailed Surficial and Subsurface Geometry of the Yushu Fault in the Tibetan Plateau Combining Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), Multi-frequencies Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Trenching” (remotesensing-2249428) submitted to Remote sensing. These comments and advices are very valuable to improve our manuscript. After carefully studying the comments, we have made the revisions by the reviewers' comments.
Point 1: Line 12: What do you mean with “subsurface stratigraphy”? Please specify.
Response 1: The context “subsurface stratigraphy” has been revised “shallow geometry of active faults” in line 12.
Point 2: Lines 26, 183, 184, 530: Please put a space between the number and the SI unit (e.g., 2 m, not 2m).
Response 2: A space between the number and the SI unit has been adde in Lines 26, 183, 184, 530, and the othre lines of the manuscript also have been checked and revised in the reivsed manuscript.
Point 3: Line 102: “…fault is almost regarded…” do you mean “…fault is commonly regarded…”
Response 3: The context “the Ganzi-Yushu fault is almost regarded as the sinistral strike-slip fault with highly active in Holocene ” has been revised “the Ganzi-Yushu fault is commonly regarded as the sinistral strike-slip fault with highly active in Holocene”in line 102.
Point 4: Line 240: What do you mean with “stratigraphic features”? Please specify.
Response 4: The context “stratigraphic features in the shallow subsurface” has been revised “stratigraphic units in the shallow subsurface” in line 240.
Point 5: In the abstract (line 22) and in the text in lines 434 – 435, as well as in figure 7 you describe three individual faults and also a “main fault zone”. The three faults seem to be part of the fault zone. According to the widely accepted international nomenclature, a “fault zone” is defined as the sum of all structural-mechanical units of a fault. The three closely space faults that you identified could be best described as a narrow “fault array” or a “fault system”. I recommend to call it a “narrow fault system” and to cite the following overview literature for the fault classification:
Van der Pluijim, B.A. & Marshak, S. (2004) Earth Structure. Norton & Company, 656 pp.
Brandes, C & Tanner, D. (2020) Fault mechanics and earthquakes. In: Tanner, D. & Brandes, C. (eds) Understanding Faults: Detecting, Dating, and Modeling, Elsevier, 11-80.
Response 5: The context “main fault zone” has been modified “narrow fault system” in the abstract (line 22) and in the text in lines 434 – 435, and the othre lines of the manuscript also have been checked and revised in the reivsed manuscript. The bibliography ([76],[77]) for the fault classification have been added in the section 4.2.1 in the revised manuscript.
- Van der Pluijm, B. A.; Marshak, S., Earth Structure - An Introduction to Structural Geology and Tectonics. W.W. Norton & Company Ltd: New York, London, 2004.
- Brandes, C.; Tanner, D., Fault mechanics and earthquakes. Elsevier: Kidlington, Oxford , United Kingdom, 2020; pp 11-80.
Point 6: I think the discussion needs some attention. In the present form, it is not really a discussion. The text lines 456 -473 reads like a part of a results chapter. Furthermore, the text lines 550 – 560 is more a text for the conclusions section than for a discussion. In a discussion, I expect a reflection of the data and results in the view of previous research, or in the view of comparable methods. The text line 474 – 508 is quite good and has many aspects that are expected in a discussion. However, literature has to be cited in a discussion. So far, this discussion has not a single reference. The discussion could be improved with a comparison of your own results with other studies from the literature (GPR studies at other strike-slip faults e.g., in New Zealand or at the North Anatolian fault). In a discussion, the limitations of the interpretation should be also evaluated.
Response 6: Thank you for reminding us the problem in the discussion section. Due to the section “5.1 Comparation between the GPR results and trench section”(Line 456-473) is a part of a result chapter, this section has been moved in the “4.3 Trenching section ”.
The context “This study showed that the combination of TLS, multi-frequencies GPR and trenching was suitable to character the detailed surficial and subsurface geometry of the Yushu fault. In general, the detailed geomorphic information and shallow geometry of the fault can be gained by the combination of the TLS and multi-frequencies GPR method for understanding the fault behavior and seismic hazard. When the geological environment is complex, the trench excavation is still needed to provide the useful information for better interpretation and analysis the shallow geometry of the fault on GPR data. In addition, the integration of GPR and other remote sensing method or geophysical prospection will be gradually used for active faults investigation, such as UAV, LiDAR, electrical resistivity tomographies (ERT), spontaneous potential (SP),active and passive seismic surveys and so on.” in lines 550-560 has been revised “This study showed that the combined TLS, multi-frequencies GPR and trenching method was suitable to character the detailed surficial and subsurface geometry of the Yushu fault. When the geological environment is complex, the trench excavation is still needed to provide the useful information for better interpreting the shallow geometry of the fault on the GPR data. In addition, the integration of GPR and other remote sensing method or geophysical prospection will be gradually used for active faults investigation, such as UAV, LiDAR, electrical resistivity tomographies (ERT), spontaneous potential (SP),active and passive seismic surveys and so on.” This revised context has been moved to the “6. Conclusions” chapter from the “5.3 The combination of TLS and GPR method”.
The context “The GPR surveys with 500 MHz shielded antenna were first used to image the shallow geometry of the fault in the Yushu area in 2015. The comparison between the GPR images and trench walls were performed in the four study sites along the Yushu faults. Zhang et.al (2015) illustrated that the GPR method has a capable of detecting the stratigraphic units in the Yushu area with the severe natural environment. Compared with the single frequency GPR survey on the Yushu strike-slip fault or other strike-slip fault all over the world [55, 78-80], multi-frequencies GPR profile has a great advantage of imaging the detailed subsurface features of the fault at different depths and spatial resolutions to improve the GPR interpreted results. The 25 MHz GPR profile has a much better quality than the GPR data acquired with other frequencies antennas in the Yushu area with the maximum depth could up to ~60 m. In addition, when the geological en-vironment is complex, the trench excavation or borehole is still needed to provide the useful information for better interpreting the shallow geometry of the fault on the GPR data.” has been added in the section “ 5.1 Multi-frequencies GPR surveys” on the revised manuscript.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Reconstructing the Detailed Surficial and Subsurface Geometry of the Yushu Fault in the Tibetan Plateau Combining Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), Multi-frequencies Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Trenching
The title effectively summarizes the content of the paper. It is clear that the authors are investigating the Yushu Fault in the Tibetan Plateau and that they are using a combination of terrestrial laser scanning, multi-frequency ground penetrating radar, and trenching to reconstruct its detailed surficial and subsurface geometry. However, there are some areas being improved.
1. it might be helpful to provide more context about why this research is important. What is the significance of understanding the geometry of the Yushu Fault? This could be added to the title to make it more informative.
2. the current title is quite long and could be condensed for clarity. For example, "Reconstructing the Geometry of the Yushu Fault in the Tibetan Plateau Using TLS, GPR, and Trenching" might be a more concise and effective title.
3. The layout and color of the diagrams need to be modified, especially the red dotted lines F1, F2 and F3 in Figure 9b and Figure 9c are not clear.
4. In the Introduction, for the previous researches in Yushu fault, the geomorphologic information and stratigraphic datasets used before should be introduced to highlight the contribution of this paper.
5. In the 3.3, the author said that the trench was excavated by previous researchers. Are there any relevant paper results that can be compared with the research results of this paper?
6. In the 4.2, the GPR of 20MHz, 250MHz and 500MHz can clearly distinguish fault F3, while the GPR of 100MHz cannot. The reason given by the author is that the interface of the strong radar reflections and low radar reflections at a distance of ~30 m was ambiguous, and GPR of 100MHz can provide more detailed information for delineating the subsurface structures of the fault, but the GPR of higher frequency will also provide more detailed information. So I don't think this reason is completely convincing.
7. In the 4.4, the author shows the integration of the 3D surficial model and 25 MHz GPR profile. Because this paper uses Muti-frequency GPR surveys and the detailed stratigraphic units of the fault can be obtained by the 500 MHz GPR antenna, it is suggested to add the integration of the 3D surficial model and 500 MHz GPR profile.
8. English needs a native speaker to polish, too many grammatical errors, such as at the abstract section, interpretation should be a verb, increasingly should be adj, etc.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 2 Comments
Many thanks for the insightful comments and suggestions about our manuscript entitled “Reconstructing the Detailed Surficial and Subsurface Geometry of the Yushu Fault in the Tibetan Plateau Combining Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), Multi-frequencies Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Trenching” (remotesensing-2249428) submitted to Remote sensing. We tried our best to improve our manuscript in the revised manuscript.
Point 1: it might be helpful to provide more context about why this research is important. What is the significance of understanding the geometry of the Yushu Fault? This could be added to the title to make it more informative.
Response 1: The context “Unfortunately, because of the complex geological conditions and severe natural environment with high altitudes and hypoxia, it is difficult to acquire high-resolution geomorphologic information and subsurface structures on the Yushu fault. There were many different views on the kinematics and characteristics of the Yushu fault in the literature, especially in the slip rate. ” has been revised “Although it is undisputed that the Yushu fault is dominated by the left lateral strike-slip movement since the Quaternary, there were many different views on the kinematics and characteristics of the Yushu fault in the literature, especially the slip rates. In addition, the Yushu city is main economic and cultural centers in the east Qinghai-Tibet Platea, where human activities are relatively intense. Unfortunately, because of the complex geological conditions and severe natural environment with high altitudes and hypoxia, it is difficult to acquire high-resolution geomorphologic information and subsurface structures on the Yushu fault and there has been little work on the geomorphic features and shallow geometry of the Yushu fault using the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), LiDAR [53] or other geophysical methods [54-56]. Hence, high-resolution geomorphologic information and stratigraphic datasets are fundamental for active faults investigation on the Yushu fault, and it has great significance for evaluating the probability of the future destructive earthquakes and the seismic hazard.” in the Introduction.
The title has been modified “Reconstructing the Geometry of the Yushu Fault in the Tibetan Plateau Using TLS, GPR, and Trenching”.
Point 2: the current title is quite long and could be condensed for clarity. For example, "Reconstructing the Geometry of the Yushu Fault in the Tibetan Plateau Using TLS, GPR, and Trenching" might be a more concise and effective title.
Response 2: The title of the manuscript has been revised “Reconstructing the Geometry of the Yushu Fault in the Tibetan Plateau Using TLS, GPR, and Trenching”.
Point 3: The layout and color of the diagrams need to be modified, especially the red dotted lines F1, F2 and F3 in Figure 9b and Figure 9c are not clear.
Response 3: The layout and color of the diagrams has been modified, and the the red dotted lines F1, F2 and F3 in Figure 9b and Figure 9c has been revised the black dotted lines.
Point 4: In the Introduction, for the previous researches in Yushu fault, the geomorphologic information and stratigraphic datasets used before should be introduced to highlight the contribution of this paper.
Response 4: The context “it is difficult to acquire high-resolution geomorphologic information and subsurface structures on the Yushu fault and there has been little work on the features and shallow geometry of the Yushu fault using the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), LiDAR [53] or other geophysical methods [54-56]” has been added in the Introduction for the previous researches in the geomorphologic information and stratigraphic datasets of the Yushu fault.
Point 5: In the 3.3, the author said that the trench was excavated by previous researchers. Are there any relevant paper results that can be compared with the research results of this paper?
Response 5: The trench was observed on the field investigation and there are not any relevant paper results has been published until now.
Point 6: In the 4.2, the GPR of 25MHz, 250MHz and 500MHz can clearly distinguish fault F3, while the GPR of 100 MHz cannot. The reason given by the author is that the interface of the strong radar reflections and low radar reflections at a distance of ~30 m was ambiguous, and GPR of 100 MHz can provide more detailed information for delineating the subsurface structures of the fault, but the GPR of higher frequency will also provide more detailed information. So I don't think this reason is completely convincing.
Response 6: The context “Nevertheless, compared with 25 MHz GPR data, the interface of the strong radar reflections and low radar reflections at a distance of ~30 m was ambiguous and the F3 was not clearly identified. The reason for this seems to be that the 100 MHz GPR antenna may offer more detailed information for delineating the subsurface structures of the fault than 25 MHz GPR antenna.” has been revised “Nevertheless, compared with 25 MHz GPR data, the interface of the strong radar reflections and low radar reflections at a distance of ~30 m was ambiguous and the F3 was not clearly identified. The reason for this seems to be that the 100 MHz GPR antenna may be effected by the external environmental factors or multiple reflections of electromagnetic wave when the GPR system was working.” in the 4.2.2.
Point 7: In the 4.4, the author shows the integration of the 3D surficial model and 25 MHz GPR profile. Because this paper uses Muti-frequency GPR surveys and the detailed stratigraphic units of the fault can be obtained by the 500 MHz GPR antenna, it is suggested to add the integration of the 3D surficial model and 500 MHz GPR profile.
Response 7: The the integration of the 3D surficial model and 500 MHz GPR profile has been added in the Figure 11.
Point 8: English needs a native speaker to polish, too many grammatical errors, such as at the abstract section, interpretation should be a verb, increasingly should be adj, etc.
Response 8: We revised the manuscript point-by-point as showed in the reivsed manuscript (red words), such as English grammar, spelling, and sentence structure.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Dear Authors,
I read your manuscript carefully and I was surprised that it was submitted to this journal. Most of your paper is about GPR studies. Readers interested in Remote sensing will not find anything new. Use of the TLS as well as of Lidar for paleoseismology is well known. Effectiveness of combination of the detailed geomorphic analysis, GPR and trenshing - is also obvious. Your interpretation of the GPR requires additional comment - why did you select particular fault plane. If it will be improved the paper can be suitable for geophysical journal. Pleoseimological interpretation is also rather poor - no ages, no estimates of single-event offsets. I'm sorry but I cannot recommend your paper for publication, at least in this Journal.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 3 Comments
We feel great thanks for your professional review work on our article entitled “Reconstructing the Detailed Surficial and Subsurface Geometry of the Yushu Fault in the Tibetan Plateau Combining Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), Multi-frequencies Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Trenching” (remotesensing-2249428) submitted to Remote sensing. These comments and advices are very valuable to improve our manuscript. We tried our best to improve the manuscript and made some changes in the manuscript. The main corrections in the paper and the responds to your comments are as flowing:
Point 1: I read your manuscript carefully and I was surprised that it was submitted to this journal. Most of your paper is about GPR studies. Readers interested in Remote sensing will not find anything new. Use of the TLS as well as of Lidar for paleoseismology is well known. Effectiveness of combination of the detailed geomorphic analysis, GPR and trenshing - is also obvious. Your interpretation of the GPR requires additional comment - why did you select particular fault plane. If it will be improved the paper can be suitable for geophysical journal. Pleoseimological interpretation is also rather poor - no ages, no estimates of single-event offsets. I'm sorry but I cannot recommend your paper for publication, at least in this Journal.
Response 1: As the remote sensing technology, the TLS and GPR technology have been widely applied in archaeology, building and road testing, geological survey, glacier detection and other fields. Compared to single TLS or GPR method, the integration of TLS and GPR has the capability of detecting and identifying geomorphologic features and shallow geometry of active faults as the following: (1) the geomorphologic features and shallow geometry of active faults are simultaneously obtained by a non-destructive and cost-effective fashion; (2) multi-scale and multi-perspective spatial data are provided by the integration of TLS and GPR for imaging and analyzing the geomorphologic features and subsurface structures of active faults; (3) the surface and subsurface geometry of active faults can be established by the integrated data of TLS and GPR, and it also provides the chance that the shallow structures of the fault can be better understanding with its corresponding superficial data.
Althought the integration of TLS and GPR has been gradually applied in active faults investigation all over the world in recent years, there were little the integration of TLS and GPR surveys had been performed on the Yushu fault. Owing to the severe natural environment in the Yushu area, it is extremely difficult to carry out fine detection of active faults by the traditional methods without the environmental disruption. This paper carried out to establish the detailed 3D surface and subsurface geometry of the Yushu fault in the eastern Tibet Plateau based on the TLS ,GPR and trenching, which can better explain the surface rupture characteristics ,fault geometry structure and the motion mode of the Maoyaba fault. So this paper was not a simple application of TLS and GPR method in the Yushu fault. The manuscript submission to Remote sensing has two objectives:
(1) Because of the severe natural environment in the southeast Tibetan Plateau, the traditional methods were time-consuming and high-costing to obtain the topographic data and shallow geometry of the Yushu fault without the environmental disruption. In addtion, the Yushu area locates in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau area and has a severe natural environment with water-saturated clay in near-surface layer, where the electrical conductivity constitutes a challenge for radar wave propagation. One objective of this paper is demonstrat the combination of TLS , GPR and trenching for delineating the 3D surface and subsurface geometry of the Yushu fault.
(2) Although it is undisputed that the Yushu fault is dominated by the left lateral strike-slip movement since the Quaternary, there were many different views on the kinematics and characteristics of the Yushu fault in the literature, especially the slip rates. In addition, the Yushu city is main economic and cultural centers in the east Qinghai-Tibet Platea, where human activities are relatively intense. Unfortunately, because of the complex geological conditions and severe natural environment with high altitudes and hypoxia, it is difficult to acquire high-resolution geomorphologic information and subsurface structures on the Yushu fault and there has been little work on the geomorphic features and shallow geometry of the Yushu fault using the UAV, LiDAR or other geophysical methods .
Hence, high-resolution geomorphologic information and stratigraphic datasets are fundamental for active faults investigation on the Yushu fault, and it has great significance for evaluating the probability of the future destructive earthquakes and the seismic hazard. In this work, we evaluated the integration of TLS, multi-frequencies GPR and trenching for charactering the surficial and subsurface geometry of active faults on the Yushu fault, and also reconstruct the 3D surficail and subsurface model of the Yushu fault (within 60m) by integration data of TLS and GPR. So the manuscript is suitable for the Special Issue “Earthquake Disaster Monitoring Using Remote Sensing Image Processing and Geophysical Techniques" belongs to the section "Remote Sensing in Geology, Geomorphology and Hydrology".
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 4 Report
Dear Authors
your paper "Reconstructing the Detailed Surficial and Subsurface Geometry of the Yushu Fault in the Tibetan Plateau Combining Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), Multi-frequencies Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Trenching" is a very interesting paper about integration methods to detect, understand and map the subsurface faults.
According to me, it could be improved for better understanding the potential of GPR.
I want to suggest these simple ideas to improve the paper:
1) When you show the "conceptual profiles" (figs.7c-8c-10b) and "interpretation" (figs. 9c- 11a), you use "time sections". This is not correct. You have to interpret the sections closest to reality, so the interpretation has to be done on migrated sections. For this reason, I suggest you create new migrated sections, using Stolt algorithm (you have only one velocity value).
2) The real starting time is important in GPR data. How did perform it? This may interest the reader.
3) Why didn't apply spherical divergence in gain step?
4) In the Tab.2: the numbers in AGC, what are they?ns?
5) In the Tab.2: Running average 3 ...they seem few to me for an average.
Other small details:
1) When indicating the acronym TLS in the text the first time it must be written in full. Not everyone knows.
2) In the figures a) b) c) ... are very little.
I hope these remarks can be helpful. Good work
luca
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 4 Comments
Thank you very much for your letter and the advices about our manuscript entitled “Reconstructing the Detailed Surficial and Subsurface Geometry of the Yushu Fault in the Tibetan Plateau Combining Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), Multi-frequencies Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Trenching” (remotesensing-2249428) submitted to Remote sensing. These comments and advices are very valuable to improve our manuscript. After carefully studying the comments, we have made the revisions by the reviewers' comments.
Point 1: When you show the "conceptual profiles" (figs.7c-8c-10b) and "interpretation" (figs. 9c- 11a), you use "time sections". This is not correct. You have to interpret the sections closest to reality, so the interpretation has to be done on migrated sections. For this reason, I suggest you create new migrated sections, using Stolt algorithm (you have only one velocity value).
Response 1: The stolt algorithm has been added in the GPR data processing steps in Table 2 using the average velocity of 0.07m/ns. The GPR profiles (Figs. 7b, 8b,9a,9b,9c,10a, 11a and 11b) and conceptual profiles (Figs. 7c, 8c and 10b) has been modified the migrated sections in the revised manuscript.
Point 2: The real starting time is important in GPR data. How did perform it? This may interest the reader.
Response 2: The bibliography ([67],[68]) for the principlethe of the intergated GPR and DGPS has been added in the section 3.2 in the revised manuscript. When the operator with GPR system is moving on the ground surface, the pulse signals of the survey wheel were applied to trigger the GPR control unit and the GPS signal receiver at the same time. Meanwhile, the GPR data and the geographical coordinates were obtained by the GPR system and the GPS signal receiver, respectively. In addition, the time synchronization algorithm was proposed to combine each trace of the GPR image with the geographical coordinates of the GPS signal receiver (Figure 1).
Figure 1 The hardware connection of the integrated GPR and DGPS system (Zhang et al,2022)
Point 3: Why didn't apply spherical divergence in gain step?
Response 3: The Energy decay was selected to be amplified the electromagnetic energy of the receiver signals and the Stolf migration has been performed on the GPR data.
Point 4: In the Tab.2: the numbers in AGC, what are they? ns?
Response 4: The processed steps of AGC has been revised the Energy decay. A mean decay curve is determined from all existing traces. After the application of a median filter on this curve every data point of each trace is divided by the values of the decay curve. After the multiplication of the energy decay curve all data points are automatically multiplied by a scaling factor. The parameter is a scaling factor of the Energy decay.
Point 5: In the Tab.2: Running average 3 ...they seem few to me for an average.
Response 5: All frequencies GPR profiles has been processed using the running average 5 in the revised manuscript and the parameters of Running average has been revised in the Table 2.
Point 6: When indicating the acronym TLS in the text the first time it must be written in full. Not everyone knows.
Response 6: The acronym TLS has been writted the “Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS)” in the Abstract section when it appers in the text at the first time.
Point 7: In the figures a) b) c) ... are very little.
Response 7: All the figures a) b) c) has been magnified on the revised manuscript.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Review for Zhang et al. now entitled “Reconstructing the Geometry of the Yushu Faultin the Tibetan Plateau using TLS, GPR and Trenching”, submitted to Remote Sensing.
The authors did a very good job and implemented all my comments. The manuscript can now be published.
Author Response
Thank you very much again for your positive and constructive comments and suggestions about our manuscript entitled “Reconstructing the Geometry of the Yushu Fault in the Tibetan Plateau using TLS, GPR and Trenching” (remotesensing-2249428) submitted to Remote sensing. These comments and advices are very valuable to improve our manuscript for future publication. We would like to express our great appreciation to you for comments on our paper.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Dear Autors. My main concern about your paper is that you submitted it not to proper Journal. Those who are interested in remote sensing methods will not find anything new, while those who are interested in GPR or paleoseismology will not pay attention on it.
Author Response
Many thanks for the insightful comments and suggestions about our manuscript entitled “Reconstructing the Geometry of the Yushu Fault in the Tibetan Plateau using TLS, GPR and Trenching” (remotesensing-2249428) submitted to Remote sensing. We tried our best to improve our manuscript in the revised manuscript.
Point 1: My main concern about your paper is that you submitted it not to proper Journal. Those who are interested in remote sensing methods will not find anything new, while those who are interested in GPR or paleoseismology will not pay attention on it.
Response 1: In the paper, we present a case study to reconstruct the detailed surficial and subsurface geometry of the Yushu fault using TLS, multi-frequencies GPR and trenching. The objectives of this study are (1) to depict geomorphic landforms and shallow geometry of the Yushu fault by jointing the TLS data, multi-frequencies GPR profiles and trenching; (2) to reconstruct the 3D surficial and subsurface model of the Yushu fault by TLS-derived data and GPR data; (3) to assess a combination of TLS, multi-frequencies GPR and trenching for imaging the detailed surficial and subsurface geometry of the Yushu fault.
So our manuscript is suitable for the Special Issue “Earthquake Disaster Monitoring Using Remote Sensing Image Processing and Geophysical Techniques" belongs to the section "Remote Sensing in Geology, Geomorphology and Hydrology". The topic of this Special Issue are focusing on the application of remote sensing and geophysical techniques and tools to anything from earthquake disaster monitoring using its spatial distribution, coseismic surface rupture and environmental effects mapping, characterization of fault structures, fault slip-rates, as well as overall tectonic processes from diverse tectonic settings.
Point 2: English language and style are fine/minor spell check required.
Response 2: We revised the manuscript point-by-point as showed in the reivsed manuscript (red words), such as English grammar, spelling, and sentence structure.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
