Palaeogene structural evolution of Dongying Depression, Bohai Bay Basin, NE China

Abstract

ABSTRACTBased on the new all-covering 3D seismic data and the drilling-logging data, we established the sequence stratigraphic framework for Dongying Depression and identified two kinds of structural systems in Palaeogene, i.e. the extensional structural system and the transtensional structural system. The extensional structural system consists of different normal faults that predominantly trend NE, EW, and NW. The attitudes of the normal faults vary in different tectonic settings. However, the transtensional structural system consists of some strike–slip faults and some normal faults. According to the analysis of the relationships between the faults and the sedimentary sequences of Dongying Depression, we considered that the extensional structural system was developed mainly from the Palaeocene to the middle Eocene, whereas the transtensional structural system was mostly developed from the middle Eocene to the Oligocene. In addition, we found that the structural systems had transformed since 43.5 Ma, when the subduction direction and activity rates of the Pacific Plate changed and the dextral strike–slip movement of the large-scale Tanlu fault zone started from eastern China. The extensional structural deformation was probably derived from the back-arc extension triggered by subduction rollback of the Pacific Plate under the Eurasian Plate, whereas the transtensional structural deformation was probably related to the regional dextral strike–slip movement induced by the subduction of the Pacific Plate and the continents’ collision between the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate.