The continent–ocean transition at the mid-northern margin of the South China Sea

Gao, Junfeng; Wu, Shiguo; McIntosh, K. D.; Mi, Lijun; Bochu, Yao; Chen, Zeman; Jia, Liankai

doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2015.03.003

Cited by 89 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 87 publications

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“…The northern continental margin in the South China Sea (SCS) (Figure ) is also considered to be magma poor, because of its restricted igneous activity during the time of continental breakup [ Taylor and Hayes , ; Clift et al ., ; Yan et al ., ; Franke , ; Gao et al ., ]. According to recent investigations, the northern continental margin in the SCS evolution is controlled by several lithosphere‐scale processes with wide domains of extended crust but limited magmatism [ Franke , ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently, the margin has developed a complicated lower crustal HVL, which is distributed along the continent‐ocean transition (COT) and across the continental shelf. Massive Cenozoic volcanic activity has been reported at the top of the basement [e.g., Li et al ., ; Lester et al ., ; Gao et al ., ], and early Miocene basaltic rocks have been dredged from volcanic seamounts in the COT of the northeastern SCS [ Wang et al ., ]. Thus, the HVL in the northeastern SCS has been previously interpreted as postrifting magmatic underplating connected with crustal extension in the Cenozoic [ Yan et al ., ; Wang et al ., ; Wei et al ., ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Deep seismic structure of the northeastern South China Sea: Origin of a high‐velocity layer in the lower crust

et al. 2017

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We present a 2‐D seismic tomographic image of the crustal structure along the OBS2012 profile, which delineates the Moho morphology and magmatic features of the northeastern South China Sea margin. The image was created by forward modeling (RayInvr) and traveltime tomographic inversion (Tomo2D). Overall, the continental crust thins seaward from ~27 km to ~21 km within the continental shelf across the Zhu I Depression and Dongsha Rise, with slight local thickening beneath the Dongsha Rise accompanying the increase in the Moho depth. The Dongsha Rise is also characterized by ~4–7 km thick high‐velocity layer (HVL) (~7.0–7.6 km/s) in the lower crust and exhibits a relatively high velocity (~5.5–6.4 km/s) in the upper crust with a velocity gradient lower than those of the Zhu I Depression and Tainan Basin. Across the continental slope and continent‐ocean transition (COT), which contain the Tainan Basin, the crust sharply thins from 20 km to 10 km seaward and a ~2–3 km thick HVL is imaged in the lower crust. We observed that volcanoes are located only within the COT, but none exist in the continental shelf; the Dongsha Rise exhibits a high magnetic anomaly zone and different geochemical characteristics from the COT. Based on those observations, we conclude that the HVL underlying the COT is probably extension related resulting from the decompression melting in the Cenozoic, whereas the HVL beneath the Dongsha Rise is probably arc related and associated with the subduction of the paleo‐Pacific plate. These findings are inconsistent with those of some previous studies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deep seismic structure of the northeastern South China Sea: Origin of a high‐velocity layer in the lower crust

et al. 2017

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“…Many hydrocarbon fields have been found in this area, with a recent oil-equivalent production up to 2000 × 10 4 m 3 per year . Although some researchers have pointed out the episodes of the late Cretaceous to Oligocene rifting in separate basins or depressions of the margin (Ru and Pigott, 1986;Li, 1993;Gong and Li, 2004;Zhong et al, 2004;Clift and Sun, 2006;Ding et al, 2008;Zhu, 2008;Jiang et al, 2009;Shi et al, 2009;Cai et al, 2010;Cullen et al, 2010;Lee et al, 2010;Lei et al, 2011;Ren and Lei, 2011;Lester et al, 2014;Savva et al, 2014;Gao et al, 2015), our current understanding on the rifting history of the margin remains limited, possibly due to the lack of enough well controls and relative lower quality of seismic data for the deeply buried interval. The timing and episodes of the rifting process and the sedimentary filling characteristics of the associated rifted basins in the northern SCS margin are significant for understanding the regional geologic evolution of the margin, and further for petroleum exploration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sedimentary facies and the rifting process during the late Cretaceous to early Oligocene in the northern continental margin, South China Sea

Zhu

Shao

et al. 2016

Interpretation

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The late Cretaceous to early Oligocene strata in the northern continental margin of the South China Sea (SCS) are significant for understanding the contemporaneous continental rifting of the margin prior to the opening of the central SCS oceanic basin. Using new seismic and drilling data, combined with previous results, we have identified three episodes of rifting from the late Cretaceous to early Oligocene based on analyses of major unconformities, tectonostratigraphic units, and sedimentary facies. The first episode of rifting that occurred only in the Pearl River Mouth (PRM) basin during the late Cretaceous to Paleocene is observed. During the early to middle Eocene, littoral-shallow lacustrine and fan-delta facies were distributed in some faulted half-grabens in the Qiongdongnan (QDN) basin, while deep lacustrine deposits widely developed in the PRM basin. During the late Eocene to early Oligocene, marine transgression propagated from the southeast into the QDN, southern PRM, and Taixinan basins. We have inferred that late Cretaceous to the middle Eocene rifting is characterized by uniform lithospheric stretching related to the retreat of the paleo-Pacific subduction zone, whereas the late Eocene to the early Oligocene rifting controlled by multiple factors is characterized by depth-dependent lithospheric extension. It is the differential rifting process that led to the differentiation in the types and distribution of source rocks in the basins of northern SCS margin.

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“…The HZS is located in the central part of the Zhu-I Depression and characterized by half grabens or strongly asymmetric grabens ( Figure 1 profile AA and profile BB ). The geological evolution of the PRMB is significantly influenced by the Philippine Sea plate, the Eurasian plate, and the IndoAustralian plate [34][35][36]. The HZS mainly has experienced three tectonic events during the Cenozoic: the Paleogene continental rift stage, the Miocene passive continental margin stage (postrift stage), and the Late Miocene-Quaternary Neotectonic stage (Figure 2).…”

Section: Tectonic Evolution and Sedimentary Charactermentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstruction of the Cenozoic History of Hydrocarbon Fluids from Rifting Stage to Passive Continental Margin Stage in the Huizhou Sag, the Pearl River Mouth Basin

Jiang²,

Jiang

et al. 2017

Geofluids

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The Eocene lacustrine sediments are the primary source rocks in the Huizhou Sag of the Pear River Mouth Basin. This study employs basin modeling for four representative wells and two profiles in the Huizhou Sag to reconstruct the process of generation, expulsion, migration, and accumulation of hydrocarbon fluids. The Eocene source rocks started to generate hydrocarbon at 33.9 Ma and are currently in a mid-mature and postmature stage. Hydrocarbons are mainly expelled from the Eocene Wenchang Fm, and the contribution of the Eocene Enping formation is minor. Under the driving forces of buoyancy and excess pressure, major hydrocarbons sourced from the Eocene source rocks firstly migrated laterally to the adjacent Eocene reservoirs during the postrift stage, then vertically via faults to Oligo-Miocene carrier beds, and finally laterally to the structural highs over a long distance during the Pliocene-Quaternary Neotectonic stage, which is controlled by both structural morphology and heterogeneity of carrier beds. Fault is the most important conduit for hydrocarbon fluid migration during the Neotectonic stage. Reactivation of previous faults and new-formed faults caused by the Dongsha Movement (9.8-4.4 Ma) served as vertical migration pathways after 10.0 Ma, which significantly influenced the timing of hydrocarbon accumulation in the postrift traps.

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The continent–ocean transition at the mid-northern margin of the South China Sea

Cited by 89 publications

References 87 publications

Deep seismic structure of the northeastern South China Sea: Origin of a high‐velocity layer in the lower crust

Deep seismic structure of the northeastern South China Sea: Origin of a high‐velocity layer in the lower crust

Sedimentary facies and the rifting process during the late Cretaceous to early Oligocene in the northern continental margin, South China Sea

Reconstruction of the Cenozoic History of Hydrocarbon Fluids from Rifting Stage to Passive Continental Margin Stage in the Huizhou Sag, the Pearl River Mouth Basin

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