Tectonic Evolution of Late Mesozoic–Cenozoic Basins in Eastern China and Implications for Pacific Plate Subduction

Abstract

Abstract —During the late Mesozoic and Cenozoic, the North China Craton witnessed a series of tectonic transition and deformation events, caused mainly by the subducting Pacific Plate and forming many petroliferous basins in eastern China and adjacent areas. Based on analysis related to the reconstruction of balanced sections, the comparison of subsidence rates, and the migration of depocenters in these basins, the tectonic evolution of these basins and their relationships with each other are clearly revealed. The evolution of the Bohai Bay Basin shows a migration from southwest to northeast. The North Yellow Sea Basin’s evolution developed northward, while the South Yellow Sea Basin evolution migrated southwards. The evolution of the East China Sea Basin was activated from northwest to southeast. In combination with the subduction of the Pacific Plate, the conclusions of this study can be summarized in three aspects: (1) The structural pattern of the basin group is characterized by east–west trending belts and north–south trending blocks, (2) tectonic activities in the late Mesozoic–Cenozoic basins evolved from west to east in response to the westward subduction of the Pacific Plate, and (3) due to the collision of the Eurasian Plate and Indian Plate and the transitional pattern of the Tan-Lu Fault Zone from sinistral to dextral, the tectonic evolution of the basin group was centered in the Yellow Sea Basin with the Bohai Bay Basin, evolution migrating northward and the ECSB migrating southward.