| Citation: |
Xue-jie Li, Zhe Wang, Yong-jian Yao, Hong-fang Gao, Song Zhu, Zi-ying Xu, 2023. Formation and evolution of the South China Sea since the Late Mesozoic: A review, China Geology, 6, 154-167. doi: 10.31035/cg2022021
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Formation and evolution of the South China Sea since the Late Mesozoic: A review
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Abstract
The existing genetic models of the South China Sea (SCS) include an extrusion model of the Indochina Peninsula, a back-arc extension model, and a subduction and dragging model of the Proto-South China Sea (PSCS). However, none of these models has been universally accepted because they do not fully match a large number of geological phenomena and facts. By examining the regional tectonics and integrating them with measured data for the SCS, in this study, a back-arc spreading-sinistral shear model is proposed. It is suggested that the SCS is a back-arc basin formed by northward subduction of the PSCS and its formation was triggered by left-lateral strike-slip motion due to the northward drift of the Philippine Sea Plate. The left-lateral strike-slip fault on the western margin caused by the Indo-Eurasian collision changed the direction of the Southwest Sub-basin’s spreading axis from nearly E–W to NE–SW, and subduction retreat caused the spreading ridge to jump southward. This study summarizes the evolution of the SCS and adjacent regions since the Late Mesozoic.
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References
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Xue-jie Li, Zhe Wang, Yong-jian Yao, Hong-fang Gao, Song Zhu, Zi-ying Xu, 2023. Formation and evolution of the South China Sea since the Late Mesozoic: A review, China Geology, 6, 154-167. doi: 10.31035/cg2022021
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Figure 1.
Map showing the main models of the genesis of the SCS (after Sun WD, 2016). a–Extrusion model; b–PSCS subduction-slab pull model; c–Hybrid model.
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Figure 2.
Map showing the tectonic setting of the SCS and its adjacent areas.
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Figure 3.
Western Margin Fault (WMF) of the SCS and sedimentary thickness. (a)–Cenozoic thickness; (b)–Paleogene thickness; (c)–Neocene-Quaternary thickness.
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Figure 4.
Distribution of ophiolite and suture lines in southern SCS (Modified from MGBP, 2010; Aurelio MA et al., 2014; Galin T et al., 2017; Hutchison CS, 2010; Hall R, 2013; Pubellier M et al., 2004; Hall R et al., 2008; Lu BL et al., 2014).
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Figure 5.
Distribution of the PSCS slabs (Modified from Wu J and Suppe J, 2018).
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Figure 6.
Tomographic cross-section showing the PSCS slabs beneath the SCS (Modified from Wu J and Suppe J, 2018).
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Figure 7.
Schematic diagram of the strike-slip boundary in the eastern SCS.
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Figure 8.
Cross-sectional model showing the evolution of the SCS.
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Figure 9.
Schematic map showing the evolution of the SCS and its surrounding areas (the regional tectonic evolution is based on Wu J et al., 2016).