Cenozoic Propagated Rifting in the Dangerous Grounds in Response to the Episodic Seafloor Spreading of the South China Sea

Unravelling rift propagation from Cenozoic subsidence patterns: Examples from the Dangerous Grounds, South China Sea

“…Dredging and drilling data were used to calibrate the ages of stratigraphic units, including dozens of sampling sites from the SO23 and SO27 cruises (Kudrass et al, 1986), three drilling sites from ODP/IODP Expeditions (Sites 1143, U1433 and U1434) (Li et al, 2014;Shipboard Scientific Party, 2000), two commercial wells (Sampaguita-1 and Nido-1) from Schlüter et al (1996) and Steuer et al (2013Steuer et al ( , 2014, and two further commercial wells (Mulu-1 and Bako-1) from Madon et al (2013). Since these data do not cover the entirety of the DG, we supplemented and incorporated interpretations from previously published stratigraphic schemes (Ding et al, 2013;Peng et al, 2019;Schlüter et al, 1996;Sun et al, 2011;Tong et al, 2019;Wang et al, 2022;Yan & Liu, 2004).…”

“…These segments are further separated by the N–S‐trending Zhongnan Fault and the NW–SE‐trending Balabac Fault in the east, and by the NW–SE‐trending Kinabalu Fault in the west (e.g. Peng et al, 2019; Wang et al, 2022).…”

“…Simplified lithological strata, seismic stratigraphic horizons, stages and units, global eustatic curve (Haq et al, 1987), and the structural evolution of the Dangerous Grounds (revised from Ding et al, 2013; Peng et al, 2019; Wang et al, 2022). The short‐term global eustatic curve is used for subsidence analysis.…”

“…Pang et al, 2007), as well as the breakup of the Southwest Subbasin (e.g. Franke et al, 2014; Wang et al, 2022) which caused the cessation of continental rifting from east to west (Fang et al, 2017). IODP drilling data revealed that the oceanic Southwest Subbasin formed during the early to middle Miocene at either ca.…”

“…Ding et al, 2013;Peng et al, 2019;Tong et al, 2019;Zhang, Wu, et al, 2020) show that the DG has become an ideal region to analyse subsidence architecture in relation to rift propagation processes. Attempts have been made to quantify tectonic subsidence and explore the factors controlling its dynamics in the DG (Ding et al, 2015;Fang et al, 2017;Wang et al, 2021Wang et al, , 2022, but these previous studies were generally focused on individual regions with limited 2D seismic sections. Consequently, our understanding of spatial and temporal variations in subsidence throughout the whole DG, as well as responses to rift propagation, remain incompletely understood.…”