Research on the dynamics of the South China Sea opening: Evidence from analogue modeling

Abstract

Independent of Indochina extrusion, the South China Sea experienced a process from passive continental rifting to marginal sea drifting. According to the fault patterns in the Beibu Gulf basin and the Pearl River Mouth basin, the continental rifting and early spreading stage from 32 to 26 Ma were controlled by extensional stress field, which shifted clockwise from southeastward to south southeastward. From 24 Ma on, the sea spread in NW-SE direction and ceased spreading at around 15.5 Ma. Integrated geological information with the assumption that the South China Sea developed along a pre-Cenozoic weakness zone, we did analogue experiments on the South China Sea evolution. Experiments revealed that the pre-existing weakness zone goes roughly along the uplift zone between the present Zhu-1 and Zhu-2 depression. The pre-existing weakness zone is composed of three segments trending NNE, roughly EW and NEE, respectively. The early opening of the South China Sea is accompanied with roughly 150 clockwise rotation, while the SE sub-sea basin opened with SE extension. Tinjar fault was the western boundary of the Nansha block (Dangerous Ground), while Lupar fault was the eastern boundary of the Indochina, NW-trending rift belt known as Zengmu basin developed between above two faults due to block divergent of Indochina from Nansha. In the experiment, transtensional flower structures along NW-trending faults are seen, and slight inversion occurs along some NE-dipping faults. The existence of rigid massifs changed the orientations of some faults and rift belt, and also led to deformation concentrate around the massifs. The rifting and drifting of the South China Sea might be caused by slab pull from the proto South China Sea subducting toward Borneo and/or mantle flow caused by India-Asia collision.