Carbonate Platforms in the Reed Bank Area, South China Sea: Seismic Characteristics, Development and Controlling Factors

Ding, Weiwei; Li, Jiabiao; Dong, Congzhi; Fang, Yuefa; Tang, Yong; Fu, Jie

doi:10.1260/0144-5987.32.1.243

Cited by 17 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…In order to better study this structurally complex package, we carried out pre-stack Kirchhoff depth migration (PSDM) that is capable of dealing with large lateral velocity variations and improving the velocity model. To better constrain the ages of geological events on the opening of the South China Sea, we further examine two major unconformities, the breakup unconformity (BRU) between syn-rifting and post-rifting sediments, and the middle Miocene unconformity (MMU), and link them regionally to unconformities revealed by previous studies in the Dangerous Grounds and Palawan (Hinz and Schluter 1985;Hutchison 2004;Cullen 2010;Ding et al 2014). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rifting to drifting transition of the Southwest Subbasin of the South China Sea

Song

2015

Mar Geophys Res

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Continental rupturing process and related dynamics on the onset of seafloor spreading remain poorly understood in the opening of the South China Sea. To constrain the timing and cause of major tectonic events, we focus on the rifting-to-drifting transition of the Southwest Subbasin, which has very wide extended continental margins. By carefully interpreting rifting structures and carbonate platforms and reefs, we distinguished two major unconformities, i.e., the breakup unconformity (BRU) and the mid-Miocene unconformity, in the two conjugate margins of the Southwest Subbasin. The age of the BRU in our study area is near the Oligocene/Miocene boundary (*23 Ma). Pre-stack depth migration of a recently acquired multichannel reflection seismic profile reveals complex structures and strong lateral velocity variations associated with a 3.5 km thick syn-rifting sequence developed right at the continent-ocean boundary (COB) of the Southwest Subbasin. This syn-rifting sequence is bounded landwards by a large seaward dipping fault, and tapers out seawards. An erosional truncation, which represents the mid-Miocene unconformity landwards but the older breakup unconformity on the seaward side, occurred at the top of this sequence. The overall transitional deformation style from the rifting to drifting suggests a successive episode of rifting, faulting, compression, tilting, and erosion at the COB during the crustal thinning and mantle upwelling. Localized thick syn-rifting deposition and early deposition beneath the BRU in the oceanic domain exist only at the seaward concave part of the COB, indicating discrete rifting and seafloor spreading prior to the buildup of a unified spreading center for the entire subbasin.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rifting to drifting transition of the Southwest Subbasin of the South China Sea

Song

2015

Mar Geophys Res

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“…As a feature in tropical and sub-tropical depositional settings, carbonate deposition could act as an indication of tectonic subsidence, sea level changes, environmental factors and terrigenous sediment input (Schlager and Camber 1986;Schlager 1989;Ma et al 2011;Franke et al 2013;Ding et al 2014). They can also be important for hydrocarbon exploration, because some reefs and carbonate platforms are highly porous and host nearly one half of the world's hydrocarbon reserves, containing some of the largest aquifers on the Earth (Sun and Esteban 1994;Groetsch et al 1998;Wu et al 2008;Sattler et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oligocene–Miocene carbonates in the Reed Bank area, South China Sea, and their tectono-sedimentary evolution

Ding

Dong

et al. 2014

Mar Geophys Res

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We have analyzed two recently acquired multichannel seismic profiles across the Reed Bank area, South China Sea. A detailed seismic interpretation coupled with drilling data has proved the occurrence of a wide carbonate platform, developed between the Late Oligocene and the Early Miocene (32-20 Ma). The top of these carbonates is an important regional unconformity, corresponding to a strong and continuous seismic reflector. An age of about 20 Ma is inferred for this reflector, acting as a regional unconformity marking the cessation of seafloor spreading with an erosional/non-depositional hiatus, spanning 3 or 4 m.y. The time interval during which the carbonate platforms formed is concurrent with the opening of the South China Sea. The reconstruction of the tectonic subsidence in this area has shown a decrease in rate of subsidence during the drifting stage (32-17 Ma), indicating that the whole Reed Bank area was in a tectonically stable and shallow water environment for more than 10 m.y., favoring the development of shallow water carbonates. With a sharply increased subsidence rate after the end of spreading (17 Ma) and a continuously increased sea level, the carbonate platforms were drowned and died, except some structural highs with reef buildups, where the carbonate sedimentation continued to Middle Miocene. We suggest that delayed tectonic subsidence in Reed Bank area might have been related to a secondary mantle convection under the rift lasting more than about 10 m.y.

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“…1). The growth and development of ICPs could be attributed to different factors including tectonic movement, sediment supply, tectonic subsidence, relative sea level changes amongst others (Wilson, 1999;Pomar, 2001;Zampetti et al, 2004;Dorobek, 2007;Sattler et al, 2009;Ding et al, 2014). For instance,…”

Section: Physiographymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Isolated carbonate platforms (ICPs) are of great interest to petroleum exploration due to their reservoir potential. Some of the best examples of such potential are recorded in the South China Sea (Neuhaus et al, 2004;Ding et al, 2014;Hutchison, 2014), Kazakhstan (Collins et al, 2006;Kenter et al, 2008;Collins et al, 2016), the Middle East (Alsharhan, 1987), the Brazilian Coast (Buarque et al, 2017), the Barents Sea (Blendinger et al, 1997;Elvebakk et al, 2002;Nordaunet-Olsen, 2015;Alves, 2016), amongst others. It is estimated that reserves of about 50 billion barrels of oil equivalent are accumulated within these structures around the world (Burgess et al, 2013) including fields such as the Luconia Province and the Malampaya Field in the South China Sea (Neuhaus et al, 2004;Zampetti et al, 2004;Rankey et al, 2019), the Karachaganak gas-condensate-oil field and the Tengiz field in the Pre-Caspian Basin, Kazakhastan (Elliott et al, 1998;Collins et al, 2006;Borromeo et al, 2010;Katz et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and growth styles of isolated carbonate platforms as a function of fault propagation

Espejel

Alves

Blenkinsop

2019

Marine and Petroleum Geology

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Fault control on the position and distribution of isolated carbonate platforms is investigated in Northwest Australia using high quality 3D seismic and borehole data from the Bonaparte Basin. Specifically, we address the relationship between carbonate productivity and fault growth so as to understand what the primary controls on the growth of isolated carbonate platforms are. Throw-depth (T-Z) and throw-distance (T-D) profiles for normal faults suggest they formed fault segments that were linked at different times in the study area. This caused differential vertical movements: some of the normal faults have propagated to the surface, while others have upper tips 19 to 530 ms two-way-time below the sea floor, with the largest values comprising faults underneath isolated carbonate platforms. As a result, four distinct zones correlate with variable geometries and sizes of carbonate platforms, which are a function of topographic relief generated by underlying propagating faults. Some relay ramps form a preferred location for the initiation and development of carbonate platforms, together with adjacent structural highs. Due to the complex effect of fault propagation to the palaeosurface, and soft-linkage through relay ramps, three distinct models are proposed. Two models explain carbonate platform growth and one explains changes in its internal structure: (1) in the first model, fault throw is larger than carbonate productivity; (2) the second model considers fault throw to be equal or less than carbonate productivity; and (3) the third model,

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Carbonate Platforms in the Reed Bank Area, South China Sea: Seismic Characteristics, Development and Controlling Factors

Cited by 17 publications

References 43 publications

Rifting to drifting transition of the Southwest Subbasin of the South China Sea

Rifting to drifting transition of the Southwest Subbasin of the South China Sea

Oligocene–Miocene carbonates in the Reed Bank area, South China Sea, and their tectono-sedimentary evolution

Distribution and growth styles of isolated carbonate platforms as a function of fault propagation

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