From transpression to transtension: changes in morphology and structure around a bend on the North Anatolian Fault in the Marmara region

The east–west-trending North Anatolian Fault makes a 17° bend in the western Marmara region from a mildly transpressional segment to a strongly transtensional one. We have studied the changes in the morphology and structure around this fault bend using digital elevation models, field structural geology, and multi-channel seismic reflection profiles. The transpression is reflected in the morphology as the Ganos Mountain, a major zone of uplift, 10 km wide and 35 km long, elongated parallel to the transpressional Ganos Fault segment west of this bend. Flat-lying Eocene turbidites of the Thrace Basin are folded upwards against this Ganos Fault, forming a monocline with the Ganos Mountain at its steep southern limb and the flat-lying hinterland farther north at the flat limb. The sharp northern margin of the Ganos Mountain coincides closely with the monoclinal axis. The strike of the bedding, and the minor and regional fold axes in the Eocene turbidites in Ganos Mountain are parallel to the trace of the Ganos Fault indicating that these structures, as well as the morphology, have formed by shortening perpendicular to the North Anatolian Fault. The monoclinal structure of Ganos Mountain implies that the North Anatolian Fault dips under this mountain at 50°, and this ramp terminates at a decollement at a calculated depth of 8 km. East of this fault bend, the northward dip of the North Anatolian Fault is maintained but it has a normal dip-slip component. This has led to the formation of an asymmetric half-graben, the Tekirdağ Basin in the western Sea of Marmara, containing a thickness of up to 2.5 km of Pliocene to Recent syn-transform sediments. As the Ganos uplift is translated eastwards from the transpressional to the transtensional zone, it undergoes subsidence by southward tilting. However, a morphological relic of the Ganos uplift is maintained as the steep northern submarine slope of the Tekirdağ Basin. The minimum of 3.5 km of fault-normal shortening in the Ganos Mountain, and the minimum of 40 km eastward translation of the Ganos uplift indicate that the present fault geometry has existed for at least the last 2 million years.     

Active faults in the Sea of Marmara, western Turkey, imaged by seismic reflection profiles

Turkey is moving westward relative to Eurasia, thereby accommodating the collision between Arabia and Eurasia. This motion is mostly taken up by strike-slip deformation along the North and East Anatolian Faults. The Sea of Marmara lies over the direct westward continuation of the North Anatolian Fault zone. Just east of the Sea of Marmara, the North Anatolian Fault splits into three strands, two of which continue into the sea. While the locations of the faults are well constrained on land, it has not yet been determined how the deformation is transferred across the Sea of Marmara, onto the faults on the west coast of Turkey. We present results from a seismic reflection survey undertaken to map the faults as they continue through the three deep Marmara Sea basins of Çlnarclk, Central Marmara and Tekirdag, in order to determine how the deformation is distributed across the Sea of Marmara, and how it is taken up on the western side of the sea. The data show active dipping faults with associated tilting of sedimentary layers, connecting the North Anatolian Fault to strike-slip faults that cut the Biga and Gallipoli Peninsulas.     

Stress modeling to determine the through-going active fault geometry of the Western North Anatolian Fault,Turkey

The North Anatolian Fault (NAF) is a 1200 km long dextral strike-slip fault which is part of an east-west trending dextral shear zone (NAF system) between the Anatolian and Eurasian plates. The North Anatolian shear zone widens to the west, complicating potential earthquake rupture paths and highlighting the importance of understanding the geometry of active fault systems. In the central portion of the NAF system, just west of the town of Bolu, the NAF bifurcates into the northern and southern strands, which converge, then diverge to border the Marmara Sea. At their convergence east of the Marmara Sea, these two faults are linked through the Mudurnu Valley. The westward continuation of these two fault traces is marked by further complexities in potential active fault geometry, particularly in the Marmara Sea for the northern strand, and towards the Biga Peninsula for the southern strand. Potential active fault geometries for both strands of the NAF are evaluated by comparing stress models of various fault geometries in these regions to a record of focal mechanisms and inferred paleostress from a lineament analysis. For the Marmara region, the best-fit active fault geometry consists of the northern and southern bounding faults of the Marmara basin, as the model representing this geometry better replicated primary stress orientations seen in focal mechanism data and stress field interpretations. In the Biga Peninsula region, the active geometry of the southern strand has the southern fault merging with the northern fault through a linking fault in a narrow topographic valley. This geometry was selected over the other two as it best replicated the maximum horizontal stresses determined from focal mechanism data and a lineament analysis.     

Asymmetric slip partitioning in the Sea of Marmara pull‐apart: a clue to propagation processes of the North Anatolian Fault?

Between 1939 and 1999 the North Anatolian fault (NAF) experienced a westward progression of eight large earthquakes over 800 km of its morphological trace. The 2000-km-long North Anatolian transform fault has also grown by westward propagation through continental lithosphere over a much longer timescale (∼10 Myr). The Sea of Marmara is a large pull-apart that appears to have been a geometrical/mechanical obstacle encountered by the NAF during its propagation. The present paper focuses on new high-resolution data on the submarine fault system that forms a smaller pull-apart beneath the Northern Sea of Marmara, between two well-known strike-slip faults on land (Izmit and Ganos faults). The outstandingly clear submarine morphology reveals a segmented fault system including pull-apart features at a range of scales, which indicate a dominant transtensional tectonic regime. There is no evidence for a single, continuous, purely strike-slip fault. This result is critical to understanding of the seismic behaviour of this region of the NAF, close to Istanbul. Additionally, morphological and geological evidence is found for a stable kinematics consistent both with the long-term displacement field determined for the past 5 Myr and with present-day Anatolia/Eurasia motion determined with GPS. However, within the Sea of Marmara region the fault kinematics involves asymmetric slip partitioning that appears to have extended throughout the evolution of the pull-apart. The loading associated with the westward propagation process of the NAF may have provided a favourable initial geometry for such a slip separation.     

青海鄂拉山断裂带晚第四纪构造活动及其所反映的青藏高原东北缘的变形机制

鄂拉山断裂带是分隔青海乌兰盆地 (柴达木盆地的一部分 )与茶卡—共和盆地的一条重要边界断裂 ,长约 2 0 7km ,由 6条规模较大的主要以右阶或左阶次级断裂段羽列而成 ,阶距约 1～ 3.5km。该断裂右旋走滑的起始时代为第四纪初期 ,约在 1.8～ 3.8MaB .P .期间 ,大的地质体累积断错约 9～12km。断裂新活动形成了一系列山脊、冲沟和阶地等的右旋断错及断层崖、断层陡坎等。晚更新世晚期以来 ,鄂拉山断裂带的平均水平滑动速率为 (4 .1± 0 .9)mm/a ,垂直滑动速率为 (0 .15± 0 .1)mm/a。鄂拉山地区的构造变形受区域NE向构造应力作用下的剪切压扁与鄂拉山断裂的右旋剪切和挤压的共同影响 ,共和—茶卡盆地和乌兰盆地均属于走滑挤压型盆地。青藏高原东北缘地区在区域性北东向挤压的作用之下 ,应变被分解为沿北西西向断裂的左旋走滑和沿北北西向断裂的右旋走滑运动 ,形成一对共轭的剪切断裂。鄂拉山断裂及其他北北西走向断裂的发展演化和变形机制表明青藏高原东北缘向东的挤出和逃逸是非常有限的。     

Structural relationship between the Sea of Marmara Basin and the North Anatolian Fault Zone

The North Anatolian Fault (NAF) zone is 1500 km long, extending almost up to the Greek mainland in the west. It is a seismically active right-lateral strike-slip fault that accommodates the relative motion between the Turkish block and Black Sea plate. The Sea of Marmara lies along the western part of the NAF and shows evidence of subsidence. In this area pure strike-slip motion of the fault zone changes into extensional strike-slip movement that is responsible for the creation of the Sea of Marmara and the North Aegean basins. The northern half of the Sea of Marmara is interpreted as a large pull-apart basin. This basin is subdivided into three smaller basins separated by strike-slip fault segments of uplifted blocks NE-SW. Basinal areas are covered by horizontally layered sedimentary sequences. Uplifted blocks have undergone compressional stress. All the blocks are subsiding and are undergoing vertical motions and rotations relative to one another. The uplifted blocks exhibit positive Bouguer gravity anomalies. According to gravity interpretation, there is relative crustal thinning under the Sea of Marmara. The northern side of the Sea of Marmara is marked by a distinctive deep-rooted magnetic anomaly, which is dissected and shifted southward by strike-slip faulting. The southern shelf areas of the Sea of Marmara are dominated by short-wavelength magnetic anomalies of shallow origin.     

Interpretation of ambiguous reflection data by imaging processes: An example profile crossing steep submarine valley at the sea bottom

The determination of the geometry of a vertical structure is one of the most important problems in the conventional stacking process used as an imaging process. The horizontal layers in depths of the earth are easily displayed in the seismic time section, but the dipping and folded layers are not correctly displayed in the reflection data. The present study addresses the same problem for the data collected from a profile of a steep marine valley and that of an offshore extension of the Ganos fault at the westernmost part of the Tekirdağ basin, Marmara Sea, NW Turkey. In the previous studies, the fault was interpreted as a low-angle reverse fault juxtaposing between the Plio-Quaternary and the Miocene strata in the time migration section. However, the results of the extensive analyses in this study show that the close position of a newly interpreted Miocene anticline to the synformal structure of the sea bottom makes the data ambiguous, whereas the subvertical fault and the other events coming away from the fault plane causes complexity. To eliminate misinterpretation due to ambiguity and complexity as in the previous analysis, the data are reinterpreted by pre-stack Kirchhoff depth migration in addition to the conventional stacking process. The new interpretation is checked through the synthetics data created from the model having appropriate parameters of the data used. The results have shown the existence of an anticline that is cored by the Miocene strata and overlain by the Plio-Quaternary strata 200 m below the sea bottom. The Ganos fault is imaged as disturbing all the layers down the way and as having a listric geometry and steeper dip angle (75° N) at shallow depths but decreasing downward. This study examples the importance of considering the problems of the complex geometry and choosing appropriate imaging technique for analyzing seismic reflection data collected over an area with known vertical fault and related tectonic complexity.     

Characteristics of the 1912 co-seismic rupture along the North Anatolian Fault Zone (Turkey): implications for the expected Marmara earthquake

Evidence of right‐lateral offsets associated with the 1912 earthquake (M_w 7.4) along the North Anatolian Fault (Gaziköy–Saros segment) allow us to survey (using DGPS) the co‐seismic and cumulative slip distribution. The damage distribution and surface breaks related with the earthquake show an elongated zone of maximum intensity (X MSK) parallel to the fault rupture on land but this may extend offshore to the north‐east and south‐west. Detailed mapping of the fault using topographic maps and aerial photographs indicates the existence of pull‐apart basins and pressure ridges. At several localities, the average 1912 offset along strike is 3.5–4 m and cumulative slip is 2–6 times that of individual movement. The fault rupture geometry and slip distribution suggest the existence of three subsegments with a combined total length of 110–120 km, a fault length and maximum slip similar to those of the 1999 Izmit earthquake. The amount of slip at the north‐easternmost section and in the coastal region of the Sea of Marmara reaches an average 4 m, thereby implying the offshore extension of the 1912 rupture. The results suggest that the 1912 event generated up to 150 km of surface faulting, which would imply a M_w 7.2–7.4 earthquake and which, added with rupture lengths of the 1999 earthquakes, help to constrain the remaining seismic gap in the Sea of Marmara.     

Deformation at the Easternmost Altyn Tagh Fault: Constraints on the Growth of the Northern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

How the Altyn Tagh fault(ATF) extends eastwards is one of the key questions in the study of the growth of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. Detailed fieldwork at the easternmost part of the ATF shows that the ATF extends eastward and bypasses the Kuantan Mountain; it does not stop at the Kuantan Mountain, but connects with the northern Heishan fault in the east. The ATF does not enter the Alxa Block but extends eastward along the southern Alxa Block to the Jintanan Mountain. The Heishan fault is not a thrust fault but a sinistral strike-slip fault with a component of thrusting and is a part of the ATF. Further to the east, the Heishan fault may connect with the Jintananshan fault. A typical strike-slip duplex develops in the easternmost part of the ATF. The cut and deformed Quaternary sediments and displaced present gullies along the easternmost ATF indicate that it is an active fault. The local highest Mountain(i.e., the Kuantan Mountain) in the region forms in a restraining bend of the ATF due to the thrusting and uplifting. The northward growth of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau and the active deformation in South Mongolia are realized by sinistral strike-slipping on a series of NE–SW-trending faults and thrusting in restraining bends along the strike-slip faults with the northeastward motion of blocks between these faults.     

Palaeomagnetically defined rotations of fault-bounded continental blocks in the North Anatolian Shear Zone, North Central Anatolia

The 1200 km-long North Anatolian Transform Fault connects the East Anatolian post-collisional compressional regime in the east with the Aegean back-arc extensional regime to the west. This active dextral fault system lies within a shear zone reaching up to 100 km in width, and consists of southward splining branches. These branches, which have less frequent and smaller magnitude earthquake activity compare to the major transform, cut and divide the shear zone into fault delimited blocks. Comparison of palaeomagnetic data from 46 sites in the Eocene volcanics from different blocks indicate that each fault-bounded block has been affected by vertical block rotations. Although clockwise rotations are dominant as expected from dextral fault-bounded blocks, anticlockwise rotations have also been documented. These anticlockwise rotations are interpreted as due to anticlockwise rotation of the Anatolian Block, as indicated by GPS measurements, and the effects of unmapped faults or pre-North Anatolian Fault tectonic events.     

秦岭构造带徽成盆地白垩纪-新生代构造应力场演化历史

沿凤-太断裂带发育的徽成盆地斜切秦岭构造带,成为东、西秦岭构造地貌的分界带。该盆地由上部成县群和下部东河群2套地层序列组成,之间为角度不整合接触。基于沉积地层序列、野外断层滑动矢量运动学分析和古构造应力场反演,结合上部成县群磁性地层学的研究结果和基性岩脉的年代测试结果,确定了该盆地2期伸展断陷成盆阶段和3期构造挤压改造的交替演化历史。认为下部盆地形成于早白垩世时期(107Ma之前),成盆应力场为NWW- SEE引张,与东西向勉略断裂带左旋走滑拉分作用有关,其中加积了一套河湖相砂砾岩沉积。该走滑盆地在沉积晚期遭受NW- SE向挤压应力作用,控盆边界断层发生反转,地层发生宽缓的褶皱变形,基性岩脉侵位其中(107Ma)。上部新生的断陷盆地很可能形成于早白垩世晚期-晚白垩世(自107Ma以来),受NW- SE引张作用,沿凤-太断裂带发生复活,其中堆积了一套河流相红色砂泥岩和砂砾岩沉积地层。该断陷盆地遭受2次挤压应力场的改造:早期NNW- SSE向挤压、晚期NNE- SSW向挤压,这两期挤压作用使控盆边界断裂(凤太断裂、勉略断裂)发生构造反转,地层陡倾,但盆地内部变形较弱。与区域构造演化历史对比,认为这两期挤压应力作用分别发生在白垩纪晚期与古近纪。     

Palaeomagnetically defined rotations of fault-bounded continental blocks in the North Anatolian Shear Zone,North Central Anatolia

The 1200 km-long North Anatolian Transform Fault connects the East Anatolian post-collisional compressional regime in the east with the Aegean back-arc extensional regime to the west. This active dextral fault system lies within a shear zone reaching up to 100 km in width, and consists of southward splining branches. These branches, which have less frequent and smaller magnitude earthquake activity compare to the major transform, cut and divide the shear zone into fault delimited blocks. Comparison of palaeomagnetic data from 46 sites in the Eocene volcanics from different blocks indicate that each fault-bounded block has been affected by vertical block rotations. Although clockwise rotations are dominant as expected from dextral fault-bounded blocks, anticlockwise rotations have also been documented. These anticlockwise rotations are interpreted as due to anticlockwise rotation of the Anatolian Block, as indicated by GPS measurements, and the effects of unmapped faults or pre-North Anatolian Fault tectonic events.     

The South Marmara Fault

We use about 800 km of multichannel exploration seismic reflection profiles of the seventies as well as the results of three drill holes that penetrated the sedimentary cover down to the Upper Cretaceous basement to describe a continuous gently curvilinear, south-concave zone of deformation about 10 km wide that extended over the whole southern shelf of the Sea of Marmara from the Gulf of Gemlik to the Dardanelles Straits in Lower Pliocene time, about 4 Ma. We call this zone of deformation the South Marmara Fault (SMF) system and propose that the SMF was then a branch of the dextral North Anatolian Fault. This branch passed to the north of the Marmara Island Eocene block and thus had a south-facing concavity. This curvature resulted in a significant component of shortening in the western part of the fault. The SMF was deactivated at the end of Lower Pliocene, about 3.5 Ma, except for its easternmost branch between the Gulf of Gemlik and ?mral? Island where about 5 mm/year of dextral motion is still occurring today.     

Closing-up structures, alternatives to pull-apart basins; the effect of bends in the North Anatolian Fault, Turkey

Fault blocks passing bends or stepovers in a fault zone must adapt their margins to the uneven fault trace. Two cases of adaption are distinguished for extensional bends or stepovers (transtension): (1) The fault margins close up behind a single bend ('knickpoint') of a strike-slip fault and a 'closing-up structure' (new term) arises or (2) fault-block margins are extended behind a releasing bend (double bend) or stepover parallel to the displacement and a pull-apart basin originates. The dosing up described here is accomplished by acute-angled synthetic strike-slip faults that dissect the straight fault in front of a knickpoint to form a zig-zag block boundary behind it. Crustal extension is also involved in the closing-up structure, but in a different way from typical pull-apart basins.
The closing-up structure illustrated was developed behind an extensional knickpoint in the North Anatolian Fault west of Lake Abant, NW Turkey, where the process of closing up continues to this day. The kinematic model of this closing-up structure is supported by displacements and ruptures observed during the 1967 Mudurnu valley earthquake and the 1957 Abant earthquake.     

Fault kinematic and Plio-Quaternary paleostress evolution of the Bakırçay Basin,Western Turkey

ABSTRACT

At the end of the Cenozoic, western Turkey was fragmented by intense intra-continental tectonic deformation resulting in the formation of two extensional areas: a transtensional pull-apart basin systems in the northwest, and graben systems in the central and southwest areas. The question of the connection of this Late Cenozoic extensional tectonics to plate kinematics has long been an issue of discussion. This study presents the results of the fault slip data collected in Bak?rçay Basin in the west of Turkey and addresses changes in the direction of extensional stresses over the Plio-Quaternary. Field observations and quantitative analysis show that Bak?rçay Basin is not a simple graben basin that has evolved during a single phase. It started as a graben basin with extensional regime in the Pliocene and was transformed into a pull-apart basin under the influence of transtensional forces during the Quaternary. A chronology of two successive extensional episodes has been established and provides reasoning to constrain the timing and location of subduction-related back-arc tectonics along the Aegean region and collision-related extrusion tectonics in Turkey. The first NW–SE trending extension occurred during the Pliocene extensional phase, characterized by slab rollback and progressive steepening of the northward subduction of the African plate under the Anatolian Plate. Western Turkey has been affected, during the Middle Quaternary, by regional subsidence, and the direction of extension changed to N–S, probably in relation with the propagation of the North Anatolian Fault System. Since the Late Quaternary, NE–SW extension dominates northwest Turkey and results in the formation and development of elongated transtensional basin systems. Counterclockwise rotation of Anatolian block which is bounded to the north by the right-lateral strike-slip North Anatolian Fault System, accompanies to this extensional phase.     

Seismic observations at an overstep of the western North Anatolian Fault (Abant–Sapanca region, Turkey)

The course of the active North Anatolian Fault system from Lake Abant to Lake Sapanca was traced by its high micro-earthquake activity. If approaching from the east this section includes a broad south to north overstep (fault offset) of the main fault. Local seismicity has been recorded in this area by a semi-permanent network of 8 stations since 1985 within the frame of the Turkish–German Joint Project for Earthquake Research. The effect of the overstep and its complex fracture kinematics are reflected by the seismicity distribution, the variations of composite fault-plane solutions, and by the spatial coda-Q distribution. Areas of different stress orientation can be distinguished and assigned to different groups of faults. The stresses and the tectonic pattern only in part correspond to a simple model of an extensional overstep and its correlative pull-apart basin. Other types of deformation involved are characterized by normal faulting on faults parallel to the general course of the main strike-slip fault and by synthetic strike-slip faults oriented similar to Riedel shears. Shear deformation by this fault group widely distributed in an area north and east of the main fault line may play an important role in the evolution of the overstep. The development of a pull-apart basin is inhibited along the eastern half of the overstep and compatibility of both strands of the main fault (Bolu–Lake Abant and Lake Sapanca– Izmit–Marmara Sea) seems to be achieved with the aid of the fault systems mentioned. The extension of the missing part of the pull-apart basin seems to be displaced to positions remote from the Lake Abant–Lake Sapanca main fault line, i.e. to the Akyaz?–Düzce basin tract. Highest Q-values (lowest attenuation of seismic waves) were found in the zone of highest seismicity north and west of the overstep which is the zone of strongest horizontal tension. If high coda-Q is an indicator for strong scattering of seismic waves it might be related to extensional opening of fractures.     

The termination of the North Anatolian Fault System (NAFS) in Eastern Turkey

ABSTRACT

The present-day tectonic framework of Turkey comprises mainly two strike-slip fault systems, namely dextral North Anatolian and sinistral East Anatolian faults. They are considered as the main cause of deformation patterns in Anatolia. These two mega shear systems meet at Kargapazar? village of Karl?ova county. The area to the east of the junction has a transpressional tectonic regime between the Eurasian and Arabian plates and is characterized, based on field observation, by a network of faults defining a typical horsetail splay structure. The horsetail splay is interpreted as marking the termination of the North Anatolian Fault System (NAFS), which continues eastward into the Varto Fault Zone (VFZ) and then dies out. The present study reveals that the VFZ is made up of two main parts, namely the principal displacement zone (PDZ) and the transpressional splay zone (TPSZ), both characterized by the right-lateral strike-slip with reverse motion. However, the area to the east of Varto is characterized dominantly by reverse-thrust faults and E–W-trending faults as shown by focal mechanism solutions. The generation of the VFZ as a transpressional termination to the NAFS can be related directly to the block movements of the Eurasian, Anatolian, and Arabian plates.     

青藏高原东北缘大陆岩石圈现今变形和位移

川青地块在地貌上为川西高原，亦是青藏高原东北边缘最重要的构造单元。新的GPS监测资料表明，在欧亚框架内，川青地块及其邻近的龙门山带和华南地块西缘的地壳运动水平速度，具有自西向东由25．66mm／a递变下降到6．99mm／a的总趋势。速度矢量表现出顺时针涡旋转动。川青地块内具有局部应变积累的非均一的区域剪切。横切鲜水河断裂带中段新的GPS量结果揭示，两侧地块间的平均左旋滑动速率约8mm／a；由于局部应变积累，断裂系南西侧的主断裂的移动速率为9．3mm／a，其间为拉分盆地和小的横向伸展断裂。鲜水河断裂系的左旋断裂滑动作用，调节了川青地块与／11滇地块之间的相对运动。     

海拉尔盆地贝尔凹陷伸展断层转折褶皱作用及其对沉积作用的制约

海拉尔盆地是叠置于内蒙－大兴安岭古生代碰撞造山带之上的中新生代盆地,总体上呈北东向展布,由3坳、2隆5个一级构造单元组成,自西向东依次为扎贲诺尔坳陷、嵯岗隆起、贝尔湖坳陷、巴彦山隆起和呼和湖坳陷, 其中贝尔凹陷是贝尔湖坳陷南部的1个二级构造单元。贝尔凹陷的控陷断层为1个上凸、2个上凹断层转折组合构成的犁式正断层,在深部发育伸展双重构造。在犁式正断层上盘由于上凸断层转折产生的活动轴面与断层面为同旋向剪切,而上凹断层转折产生的活动轴面与断层面为反旋向剪切,在断层上盘形成2个背斜中间夹1个向斜的构造组合。由活动轴面与固定轴面之间滚动面的宽度确定控陷断层F₁在早白垩世南屯期晚期的水平伸展量为6 850 m。贝尔坳陷伸展断层转折褶皱的几何学和运动学特征,反映了断层滑移速率、构造沉降速率和沉积速率对凹陷内沉积地层变形特征的影响和构造活动对沉积作用和油气地质条件的制约。贝尔凹陷南屯组上段内部角度不整合的形成与变形作用中的剥蚀作用和沉积间断无关,而是由于半地堑从略欠补偿充填向过补偿充填状态转变时,沉积速率相对于构造沉降速率显著增加所致。     

琼东南盆地新生代发育机制的模拟研究

琼东南盆地是南海西北陆缘上一个北东走向的伸展裂陷带,向西与北西走向的莺歌海盆地相接,因此其构造演化包含了较多红河断裂走滑活动的信息。综合地质分析与物理模拟实验,我们发现琼东南盆地的发育既受控于南海北部陆缘的南东向—南南东向伸展作用,而且受到红河断裂左行走滑作用的控制和影响。其中,中央坳陷带主要受控于南东至南南东向的伸展作用;南部坳陷带的发育主要受控于琼东南盆地的伸展及其沿北北西向边界断裂右行走滑作用的构造叠加;而北部坳陷带的发育主要受控于北西向断裂左行走滑作用。红河断裂左行走滑作用可能开始于晚始新世,晚于琼东南盆地的伸展裂陷作用,且早期走滑速率应小于琼东南盆地的伸展速率,早渐新世(T70)以后红河断裂左行走滑速率大于琼东南盆地伸展速率,导致琼盆西段的褶皱反转,以及一组北西—北北西走向张剪断裂的发育。