Interaction between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasia Plate and its Influence on the Tectonics of Eastern Asia

Abstract

AbstractThe present boundaries between the Philippine Sea (PH) plate and its surrounding plates are determined based on the evolution history of the Philippine Sea and the earthquake distribution around the Philippine Sea. The deformation inside the Philippine Sea plate and along the boundary of PH‐Eurasia (EU) plate is studied by comparing the observisional data of geophysics, geology, and GPS with the theoretically calculated results for the Euler parameters of the Philippine Sea plate. The interaction between the Philippine Sea plate and the Eurasian plate is analyzed using the geophysical , geological and GPS data. It is suggested that the interaction is different in different sections of the PH‐EU boundary. The PH plate produces strong compression to the Eurasian plate along the Nankai trough. There is no compression along the Ryukyu trench and probably there is an extension caused by the secondary mantle flow. The collision of two plates at the Taiwan area causes strong compression to southeast part of Chinese continent. There is a deformation belt in the Philippine islands between the Philippine Sea plate and the Eurasian plate, which makes interaction between the two plates be weakened and there is no influence on the southern China Sea from the Philippine Sea plate.