No abstract

The South China Sea (SCS) is located in the conjunction of the Eurasian plate, the Indo-Australian plate, the Philippine Sea Plate and the Pacific Plate. The SCS basin started opening as early as 32 Ma, and stopped opening at 16 Ma (Briais et al., 1993). The SCS and adjacent regions has suffered complex tectonic evolution since the Cenozoic era, and became a tectonically complex area including continental margins, sea basins, oceanic trenches, and island arcs (Figure 1). This area has been an attractive location for scientists and several studies have been performed (