Continent–Ocean Transition of the Northern South China Sea and off Southwestern Taiwan

Abstract

The northeasternmost South China Sea (SCS) involves four geological provinces: the SCS oceanic crust, Southeast Asian continental margin, Taiwan orogenic belt and Manila subduction zone (Figure 1). The SCS is one of the largest marginal seas of Southeast Asia. The continental margin of the northern SCS has obliquely collided with the northern tip of the Luzon Arc (Philippine Sea plate), which moves northwestwards with respect to Eurasia, whereas the SCS oceanic plate is subducting eastwards beneath the Philippine Sea plate. From Luzon to Taiwan, the convergent setting along the Manila Trench shows a transition from subduction to collision in Taiwan Island. Obviously, studying the continent–ocean transition zone of Eurasia will help to understand the geological processes involved in the collision between the Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates. It will also help to provide reliable geodynamic reconstructions of the SCS. However, in the past, the crustal nature of the northern SCS, the deformation of the northernmost SCS continental margin and the geodynamic evolution of the northern portion of the Manila subduction zone were scarcely known. This Special Issue contains a collection of 10 papers that present recent data and new insights in the northeastern SCS and off southwestern Taiwan.