Crustal activities recorded in coral reefs in the northwestern South China Sea

Abstract

Coral reefs in the northwest of South China Sea have recorded the information from not only the environmental variation but also the crustal activities there during their development. The main crustal activities correlated with the coral reef development include fault, seismic, and volcano activities, etc. The high-resolution spark seismic profiles in the northwestern South China Sea show that the fault activities in the coral reef region have been clearly recorded, and appear as neonatal faults incising reefs. Earthquakes in the coral reef region are rather intense, especially the two occurring on December, 31, 1994, and January, 10, 1995, around the southwest of Leizhou Peninsula, with the magnitude of 6.1 and 6.2, respectively. They have great influence on the growth of the local coral reefs. Quaternary volcanos are active in the northwestern South China Sea, especially around the southwest of Leizhou Peninsula, and they have obvious control of the coral reef development. Some submarine volcanoes form the substrates of coral reef, while a few emerge above the sea surface and form coral islands.