Mesozoic subduction-accretion zone in northeastern South China Inferred from geophysical interpretations

A segment of Mesozoic subduction-accretion zone was inferred across the northeastern South China Sea at approximately NE45 degrees orientation. Basic evidence includes the following: A belt of peek gross horizontal Bouguer gravity gradient (PGHGBA) is comparable in size and intensity to that of the Manila subduction-accretion zone. A belt of high positive magnetic anomalies appears to the north and sub-parallel to the PGHGBA, representing the volcanic arc associated to the subduction zone. The PGHGBA crosses obliquely both Cenozoic structures and present seafloor topography, indicating a pre-Cenozoic age. The segment is offset left-laterally by NW-running strike-slip faults, in concord with the Mesozoic stress field of South China. In addition, the existence of the subduction zone is supported by wide-angle seismic data obtained in different years by different institutions. At approximate localities, a north-dipping ramp of Moho surface is indicated by records of ocean-bottom seismometers, and a strong reflector about 8 km beneath the Moho reflector is indicated by both OBS and long-cable seismic records. The identification of a segment of Mesozoic subduction zone in NE South China Sea fills nicely the gap of the Great Late Mesozoic Circum SE Asia Subduction-acrretion Zone, which extended from Sumatra, Java, SE Kalimantan to N Palawan, and from Taiwan, Ryukyu to SW Japan.