The Late Cretaceous tectonic evolution of the South China Sea area: An overview, and new perspectives from 3D seismic reflection data

Ye, Qing; Mei, Lianfu; Hu, Shi; Camanni, Giovanni; Shi, Yu; Wu, Jin-Hui; Lu, Yu; Deng, Peng; Chen, Yingjie

doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2018.09.013

Cited by 92 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 101 publications

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“…35 Ma and then subducted and metamorphosed less than 1 My later (Keenan et al, 2016). An earlier palaeomagnetic study by Almasco, Rodolfo, Fuller, and Frost (2000) suggested that the Palawan ophiolites were obducted from the south with counterclockwise FIGURE 5 Schematic model preferred in this study illustrating palaeogeographic reconstruction of the Cretaceous to Eocene South China Sea region (Breitfeld & Hall, 2018;Hennig et al, 2017;Ye et al, 2018). Grey and white areas represent continental and oceanic crusts, respectively.…”

Section: Conjugate Relationship Between Continental Marginsmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…The Palaeocene stratigraphic hiatus and unconformity at regional scales is, in itself, a sign of strong tectonic perturbations. The landscape of the South China Sea region at that time was characterized by large‐scale erosion areas, and the relevant regional convergence was likely favoured by the pre‐existing post‐subduction compressional setting developed during the latest Cretaceous (Ye et al, ). In addition, the Mesozoic–Cenozoic tectonic transition is manifested in both sedimentary lithofacies and compositions, particularly in the eastern part of the South China Sea region.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During this period, the termination of the Izanagi subduction has been foreseen by the youngest emplacement of subduction‐related magmatism found in areas like Borneo (Breitfeld et al, ; Breitfeld & Hall, ), Palawan Continental Terrane (Knittel, ; Padrones, Tani, Tsutsumi, & Imai, ), Hainan Island (Jiang & Li, ), northern South China Sea (F. C. Li, Sun, & Yang, ; Q. Yan et al, ), and Taiwan (Chen et al, ; Yui et al, ). Subsequent Proto‐South China Sea spreading could probably be responsible for the development of compressional structure, represented by the ENE‐striking thrust system observed in the northern South China Sea by means of ridge push (Ye et al, ) or even for the Palaeocene regional unconformity (Morley, ). However, the Proto‐South China Sea opening did not contribute to the southward drift of the Palawan Continental Terrane in the Late Mesozoic based on the provenance data that the sediment composition of Eocene Panas Formation from South Palawan inherits no arc‐derived nature of Cretaceous strata from North Palawan (Shao, Cao, et al, ; Suggate et al, ).…”

Section: Materials and Palaeogeographic Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following the NW–SE‐oriented transpression observed in both South China and northern South China Sea region around the Early–Cretaceous boundary, regional extension dominated the Late Cretaceous period, generating ENE‐striking extensional fault systems and associated basins, crustal subsidence, and voluminous magmatism, which has been generally interpreted to be caused by the oceanward retreat of the subducted Pacific slab (J. Li, Zhang, Dong, & Johnston, ; Ye et al, ). Pre‐Cenozoic continental rifting and even oceanic spreading along the South China margin could be plausible as evidenced by the recent discovery of Late Cretaceous rift sediments drilled at borehole MZ9‐6‐1 in the northeastern Pearl River Mouth Basin (Ye et al, ).…”

Section: Cretaceous–early Oligocene Sedimentary Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the spatial configuration of the Proto-South China Sea and the Eocene spreading centre revealed by the Palawan ophiolites is still unknown, and they may be externally juxtaposed (Keenan et al, 2016) or the latter being generated within the former (Ilao, The birth of the Proto-South China Sea is far more enigmatic than its demise, and a number of explanations have been proposed. In the light of recent investigations on the pre-Cenozoic fault systems of the northern South China Sea region (Ye et al, 2018), here, we tentatively favour the previous scenario that the Proto-South China Sea formed as a backarc basin during the latest Cretaceous due to the slab rollback and high-angle subduction of the Izanagi Plate (Morley, 2012;von Hagke et al, 2016;Zahirovic et al, 2014). The pre-Cenozoic rifting episode before the Proto-South China Sea opening has been recognized by Ye et al (2018) as~100-72 Ma (though uncertain) when the largely ENE-striking extensional fault systems and associated basins were gendered along the South China margin.…”

Section: Birth and Demise Of The Proto-south China Seamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cretaceous–Palaeogene sedimentary evolution of the South China Sea region: A preliminary synthesis

et al. 2019

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Rocks in extensional settings are generally sensitive to destruction and erosion, resulting in poor preservation potential and accumulation of their eroded components. The South China margin was dominated by a prolonged extensional setting from Late Mesozoic to Early Cenozoic, and this geological history is exactly archived in sediments within and surrounding the present South China Sea. However, the sedimentary evolution of the region, especially prior to the continental breakup and oceanic spreading, remains an issue of uncertainty and controversy, mostly due to limited borehole penetration and poor seismic reflection data for deeply buried sequences, as well as the lack of reliable regional stratigraphic framework. Here, we illustrate the Cretaceous–Palaeogene sedimentary evolution of the South China Sea region by synthesizing relevant data from previous literature and our own observations and displaying the evolution of lithofacies in sequential palinspastic reconstructions. The preferred palaeogeographic scenarios incorporate the latest interpretations of the conjugate relationship between continental margins as well as the birth and demise of the hypothetical Proto‐South China Sea. The patterns of lithofacies and depositional environments at regional scales, along with available provenance data, clearly reveal sedimentary responses to the significant Mesozoic–Cenozoic transition of plate geodynamics and magmatism along the Asian margin and provide implications for the potential mechanism of Cenozoic extension represented by distinct yet continuous processes of continental rifting and oceanic spreading.

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Section: Conjugate Relationship Between Continental Marginsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Materials and Palaeogeographic Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Cretaceous–early Oligocene Sedimentary Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Birth and Demise Of The Proto-south China Seamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cretaceous–Palaeogene sedimentary evolution of the South China Sea region: A preliminary synthesis

et al. 2019

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Early Cretaceous tectonic transition in South China: Insights from felsic igneous rocks and mafic dikes, eastern Guangdong Province

2023

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Large‐scale magmatic activity and associated mineralization in South China are linked to the subduction of the palaeo‐Pacific Plate, although specific processes have remained controversial including the timing of subduction initiation and lithospheric extension. We present new geochemical data and zircon U–Pb and Lu–Hf isotope measurements on volcanic rocks, granites and mafic dikes from coastal south‐eastern China along the Eurasian continental margin. The biotite monzogranites show I–type granitoid affinity and fractional crystallization with zircon εHf(t) values ranging from −10.15 to +0.50, suggesting magma derivation from the melting of lower crust with the addition of juvenile crustal or mantle components. The biotite granites are typical of highly fractionated A‐type granites with εHf(t) values ranging from −3.63 to +1.35, indicating magma hybridization between anatectic granitic and mantle‐derived mafic magmas. The diabase dikes have zircon εHf(t) values ranging from −2.99 to +1.71, with high La/Nb and La/Ta ratios. This suggests derivation from partial melting of a lithospheric mantle metasomatized by fluid from a subducting–slab, with contributions of depleted asthenospheric mantle components. Our data, combined with those from previous studies, suggest that the shallow subduction of the palaeo–Pacific Plate beneath the Eurasian continent had begun by ca. ~170 Ma at least and the subduction orientation changed to oblique with respect to the continental margin. Steepening of the subduction angle likely caused a slab rollback during the Early Cretaceous, resulting in a tectonic transition from compression to extension in South China at ca. 145 Ma.

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The sedimentary record of the Sanshui Basin: Implication to the Late Cretaceous tectonic evolution in the northern margin of South China Sea

2023

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The Late Cretaceous tectonic evolution of the South China Sea area: An overview, and new perspectives from 3D seismic reflection data

Cited by 92 publications

References 101 publications

Cretaceous–Palaeogene sedimentary evolution of the South China Sea region: A preliminary synthesis

Cretaceous–Palaeogene sedimentary evolution of the South China Sea region: A preliminary synthesis

Early Cretaceous tectonic transition in South China: Insights from felsic igneous rocks and mafic dikes, eastern Guangdong Province

The sedimentary record of the Sanshui Basin: Implication to the Late Cretaceous tectonic evolution in the northern margin of South China Sea

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