Reconstruction of the stress regime in the Jiaolai Basin, East Asian margin, as decoded from fault-slip analysis

Abstract

The East Asian margin has experienced a complex tectonic history since the Mesozoic and has developed a complex basin-mountain system. The Jiaolai Basin, which is located on the East Asian margin, is a typical Mesozoic rift basin that has undergone multiple tectonic episodes. Here, using field geological surveys, effective stress inversions, and accurate chronological data, we recognize six tectonic episodes that have occurred in the Jiaolai Basin since the Cretaceous: E-W extension (135-121 Ma), which controlled the early deposition of the Laiyang Group; NW-SE extension (120-93 Ma), which controlled the late deposition of the Laiyang Group and the eruption of the volcanic rocks in the Qingshan Group; NE-SW compression (92-86 Ma), which produced folding of the Qingshan Group and its underlying strata and the formation of the unconformity surface between the Wangshi and the Qingshan Groups; N-S extension (85-60 Ma), which controlled the deposition of the Wangshi Group; NW-SE compression (60-55 Ma), which produced the unconformity between the Wangshi Group and the Wutu Group; and NE-SW extension (ca. < 55 Ma), which controlled the deposition of the Wutu Group. Considering the subduction history of the Izanagi plate and the Pacific plate, the activities of these plates may have primarily controlled the temporal variation in the intraplate paleostress regime in the East Asian margin.