Existence of Qiongnan suture zone on the north margin of South China Sea

This paper aims to explore whether paleo-suture zone exists in the pre-Cenozoic basement of South China Sea (SCS). By taking advantage of integrated geophysical surveying data, including multi-channel reflection seismicity, oceanic bottom seismicity, gravity and magnetic data as well as paleomagnetism and drilling information, a comprehensive analysis on sedimentary stratigraphy, seismic stratigraphy, magmatic and metamorphic petrology, geochemistry, gravity study, magnetics, paleogeomagnetics as well as geotectonics was carried out, and the results clearly indicate that a pre-Cenozoic suture zone, i.e. Qiongnan (south Hainan Island) suture zone, does exist on the north margin of SCS. This suture zone starts in the west from the Jiusuo-Lingshui fault zone in the south of Hainan Island, extends eastward across the continental slope to the north of SCS, and links with Shoufeng fault in Taiwan. It is inferred that the Qiongnan suture zone was sutured approximately in Indosinian (Triassic) Epoch and is actually the vestige of Qiongnan ocean basin, the extension of the main paleo-Tethys ocean basin in SCS. The formation of Qiongnan suture zone marked the collision-accretion of the Qiongnan Block toward the Qiongzhong Block. The Qiongnan suture zone is linked to the west with the southward extension of the principal suture zone of the Paleo-Tethys at Bitu-Changning-Menglian-Bentong-Raub, across the southern segment of the Red River-East Vietnam-Wanna strike-slip fault zone, and connected to the east with the suture zone emplaced into the south margin of the Oki-Hida Pre-Jurassic terranes in southwest Japan, across the northern segment of the Manila trench fault zone in the northeast side of Taiwan Island. The discovery of this suture zone is believed to be potentially significant toward study of the pre-Cenozoic geotectonic pattern of SCS, the temporal and spatial distribution of the east paleo-Tethys structural domain in SCS and the relationship of recombination and superimposition between the east paleo-Tethys structural domain and the west Pacific structural domain, in addition to the oil/gas geological potentials in the pre-Cenozoic marine vestige-superimposed basin in the study area.