Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2014, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (5): 41-49.doi: 10.11978/j.issn.1009-5470.2014.05.006cstr: 32234.14.j.issn.1009-5470.2014.05.006

• Marine Geology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Analysis of Mesozoic tectonic deformation in the Chaoshan Depression of Pearl River Mouth Basin

ZHANG Jiang-yang1, 2, SUN Zhen1, ZHANG Su-fang3   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China; 2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; 3. China National Offshore Oil Corporation (China) Ltd. Shenzhen Branch, Guangzhou 510240, China
  • Received:2014-01-12 Revised:2014-03-18 Online:2014-09-29 Published:2014-09-29

Abstract: The Chaoshan Depression located at the continental margin slope of the northern South China Sea has a thick and fully developed series of the Mesozoic strata. It is therefore the best place to study the Mesozoic tectonic evolution of the northern South China Sea. Based on plenty seismic exploration data of the study area and the most recent interpretation by specialists at the China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), we used 2DMove software to recover the seismic profile across the Chaoshan Depression, and calculated the amount of compression-extension and corresponding rate. The main conclusions are as follows. The Chaoshan Depression has gone through compression and extension from the Mesozoic to the Cenozoic, and the deformation is shown by the flexure of the stratum. The rate of compression of Chaoshan depression strata is around 11% in the Mesozoic, which indicates a weak compressive environment. On the other hand, the stretching of the depression is only 1.8% in the Cenozoic, while the stretching of the surrounding sags (such as Jinghai Sag in the south) could reach 14.3%, which means in the Cenozoic only the Chaoshan Depression was in a very weak extension environment. The compression rate of the depression reached maximum from late Jurassic to early Cretaceous (J3-K1), which may be related to the rapid northwestward subduction of the Kula-Pacific Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate.

Key words: Pearl River Mouth Basin, Chaoshan Depression, balanced section, Mesozoic, compression-extension rate

CLC Number: 

  • P736