Sequential patterns in Cenozoic marginal basins of the Northwest Pacific

Abstract

By using magnetic anomaly identifications, onshore and offshore exploratory wells, ODP drillings, isotopic dating and orthochronology results, this paper summarizes the tectonic event sequence (including extension, back‐arc spreading, subsidence, convergence/compressive deformation and thrusting) of the marginal basins of the NW Pacific and extracted sequence patterns of the marginal basins according to the tectonic event sequence from an array of oil company regional seismic lines and other geological data. Three important evolutionary stages of the Northwestern Pacific (NW Pacific) marginal sea basins are distinguished: from the Palaeocene to Eocene, from Oligocene to Middle Miocene and from the later Middle Miocene to the present day. Each stage corresponds to a rifting sequence (Palaeocene to Eocene), a drifting sequence (Oligocene to Middle Miocene) and a subsidence/convergence sequence (later Middle Miocene to the present day). The rifting sequence and drifting sequence developed sequentially in the South China Sea Basin, from Palaeocene to Eocene and from Oligocene to Middle Miocene, while in the Japan and Okhotsk Sea basins, an early stage rifting sequence was not developed in the Palaeocene to Eocene interval. However, the drifting and rifting sequence developed synchronously from the Oligocene to Middle Miocene. From the Later Miocene time, all the marginal basins of the Northwest Pacific basically stopped drifting and began to enter the subsidence (post‐drifting) stage. An arc‐continent collision from the south caused the formation of a convergence sequence in the southern margin of each marginal basin. The NW Pacific Plate collision with the Kuril–Kamchatka Arc led to the deformation of the subsidence sequence in the southern margin of the Kuril Sea Basin. The NW Pacific Plate convergence with the Japan Arc led to the formation of a convergence sequence in the southern margin of the Japan Sea Basin. The Borneo–Palawan Arc convergence with the Dangerous Grounds–Reed Bank Block in the South China Sea Basin from 15 Ma led to the formation of the convergence sequence in the southern margin of the South China Sea Basin. The degree of thrusting deformation of the convergent sequence increased gradually from north to south in the marginal basins of the Northwest Pacific. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The basement and volcanic activities of the Xisha Islands: Evidence from the kilometre‐scale drilling in the northwestern South China Sea

“…According to the water depth and submarine topography features, the SCS basin can be divided into three subbasins: the northwest basin, the central subbasin, and the southwest basin (Figure ; Li, Li, Yu, et al, ; Zhang, Li, Ruan et al, ). The main geological features of the SCS include East Vietnam Fault in the west, the Palawan Trench in the south, the Manila Trench in the east, and the northern transition zone (Hui, Li, Li, Zhang et al, ; Xu et al, ; Yan, Shi, Wang, Bu, et al, ). The northern margin is located between the South China Block and the SCS continent–ocean transition zone.…”

Origin and evolution of the Paleo‐Kuril arc inferred from detrital zircon U–Pb chronology in eastern Hokkaido, NE Asia

“…The ages of detrital monazites (Yokoyama, 2016) and zircons (Murakami et al, 2016) (Konstantinovskaya, 2001) and Late Cretaceous ages (Hourigan et al, 2009), respectively, and their western extensions continue to the seafloor basement of the Sea of Okhotsk (Xu et al, 2016).…”

“…In contrast, the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk is characterized by the Kuril arc and backarc basin. Xu et al (2016) described the Sea of Okhotsk area as widely subaerial and covered by fluvial deposits with coal seams during the Paleocene to Eocene.…”

Large‐scale morphotectonics of the ocean‐continent transition zone between the Western Pacific Ocean and the East Asian Continent: a link of deep process to the Earth' s surface system

“…Since the Middle Eocene, the Sakhalin and Japan islands started to drift southward. The opening of the Japan Sea Basin started in the Late Oligocene/Early Miocene as a pull‐apart basin with a high spreading rate (20–40 cm/year) (Xu et al, ), and with a rotation angle of 10° in the northeast and 20° in the southwest part of the Japan islands along the East Korean Fault and the Tanakura Tectonic Line (Jolivet et al, ). The Yamato and Tsushima basins in the Japan Sea developed in the Early and Middle Miocene.…”

“…The first stage in the Late Mesozoic is associated with the formation of the Songliao Basin and the Bohai Bay Basin (BBB) to the west (Wang et al, ), called the Western Subsidence Belt. The second stage in the Cenozoic developed the Japan Sea Basin and the East China Sea Basin to the east (Xu et al, ), called the Eastern Subsidence Belt (Fig. ).…”