Tectono-thermal modeling of the Yinggehai Basin,South China Sea

Based on the observed data, the average value of surface heatflow in the Yinggehai Basin is calculated and it turns out to be 84.1 mW/m2. The thermal evolution of the basin since the Cenozoic era has been attempted by tectono-thermal modeling. Three-phase extension made the basin become hotter and hotter, reaching its climax in paleo-temperature history since 5.2 Ma. And nowadays, the basin is in the heat flow decreasing period. During the Cenozoic era, the basement heat flow remained at 50-70 mW/m2 all the time. This is related to the degree of each extension phase, stretching rate mode and also the limited basin scale. Modeling results also show that, the surface heat flow is controlled mainly by the basement heat flow, and less than 20% comes from radiogenic heat production in the sediments of the basin.

Tectonics of the offshore Red River Fault recorded in the junction of the Yinggehai and Qiongdongnan Basins

The Red River Fault,which originated from the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau,has a great significance for obtaining a further understanding of the regional tectonics,topography and river catchment evolution,as well as the petroliferous sedimentary basin formation.The junction of the Yinggehai and Qiongdongnan Basins(YQB Junction)is the key to understanding when and how the strike-slip deformation on the South China Sea resulted from the collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates.In this study,we show regional seismic profiles,3D seismic and drilling core data to analyze the tectonostratigraphy in the YQB Junction,aiming to identify its tectonic framework and the associated faults system.A transitional domain from the strike-slip zone to the extensional deformation zone was mapped,which consisted of the No.1 Fault and the Zhongjian Uplift.The strike-slip faulting in the YQB Junction was active during the Oligocene-Early Miocene,with a period of strong faulting in the Early Oligocene.Integrated with the regional tectonic evolution,a coevolution model of strike-slip and extensional deformation in the YQB Junction and the adjacent area was built.In the Eocene,the YQB Junction was controlled by the NW-SE extension and formed a series of distributed rifts bounded by the NE-striking faults and filled up with proximal sediment.In the earliest Oligocene,a NW-trending strike-slip fault began to develop in the YQB Junction and crosscut the NEstriking normal faults.Since the occurrence of the strike-slip faults,the NE-striking faults,to the west of the No.1 Fault and the Zhongjian Uplift,failed to grow.However,to the east of the No.1 Fault and the Zhongjian Uplift,the faulting continued to develop until the latest Late Oligocene.The faulting of the NW-trending faults was observed to be active until the earliest Middle Miocene.Since then,with the exception of some diapiric structures and associated small-scale faulting in the Yinggehai Basin,we did not observe any basement-involved faulting.Our results will improve our understanding of the tectonics in the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau and the South China Sea.