The onset of the Messinian salinity crisis in the deep Eastern Mediterranean basin

Astronomical tuning of the Messinian pre‐salt succession in the Levant Basin allows for the first time the reconstruction of a detailed chronology of the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) events in deep setting and their correlation with marginal records that supports the CIESM ( 2008 ) 3‐stage model. Our main conclusions are (1) MSC events were synchronous across marginal and deep basins, (2) MSC onset in deep basins occurred at 5.97 Ma, (3) only foraminifera‐barren, evaporite‐free shales accumulated in deep settings between 5.97 and 5.60 Ma, (4) deep evaporites (anhydrite and halite) deposition started later, at 5.60 Ma and (5) new and published ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr data indicate that during all stages, evaporites precipitated from the same water body in all the Mediterranean sub‐basins. The wide synchrony of events and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr homogeneity implies inter‐sub‐basin connection during the whole MSC and is not compatible with large sea‐level fall and desiccation of the Mediterranean.     

Distribution and Forming Model of Fluvial Terrace in the Huangshui Catchment and its Tectonic Indication

<正>The Huang Shui River,a main tributary of the Yellow River,crosses a series of tectonically subsided and uplifted areas that show different patterns of terrace formation.The distribution of fluvial terrace of the Huang Shui River is studied through topographic and sedimentologic terrace mapping.Three terraces in the Haiyan Basin,four terraces in the Huangyuan Basin,19 terraces in the Xi'ning Basin(the four high terraces may belong to another river),nine terraces in the Ping'an Basin, five terraces in the Ledu Basin and 12 terraces in the Minhe Basin are recognized.Sedimentology research shows that the geomorphologic and sedimentological pattern of the Huang Shui River,which is located at the margin of Tibet,are different from that of the rivers at other regions.The formation process of the terrace is more complicated at the Huang Shui catchment:both accumulation terrace and erosion terrace were formed in each basin and accumulation terraces were developed in some basins when erosion terraces were formed in other basins,indicating fluvial aggradation may occur in some basins simultaneously with river incision in other basins.A conceptual model of the formation process of these two kinds of fluvial terraces at Huang Shui catchment is brought forward in this paper.First,the equilibrium state of the river is broken because of climatic change and/or tectonic movement,and the river incises in all basins in the whole catchment until reaching a new equilibrium state.Then,the downstream basin subsides quickly and the equilibrium state is broken again,and the river incises at upstream basins while the river accumulates at the subsidence basin quickly until approaching a new equilibrium state again.Finally,the river incises in the whole catchment because of climatic change and/or tectonic movement and the accumulation terrace is formed at the subsidence basin while the erosion terrace is formed at other basins.The existence of the accumulation terrace implied the tectonic subsidence in the sub-basins in Huang Shui catchment.These tectonic subsidence movements gradually developed from the downstream Minhe Basin to the upstream Huangyuan Basin.Dating the terrace sequence has potential to uncover the relationship between the subsidence in the catchment and the regional tectonic at the northeastern Tibetan Plateau.     

华北克拉通东部南北缘中生代火山-沉积格局及其构造转折过程

通过华北克拉通东部北缘和南缘盆地充填序列和盆地分布演化对比研究,解析了该区中生代构造转折过程。研究发现两侧盆地均大致从早侏罗世开始发育,约以晚侏罗世为界,之前盆地充填记录反映以挤压作用、岩石圈增厚为主,之后以陆内伸展、岩石圈减薄为主,显示晚侏罗世明显的构造转折,并且地壳浅部的构造体制转变均滞后于岩石圈深部构造环境的变化。然而,两侧盆地演化也有明显差别：①北缘燕辽地区从早侏罗世到白垩纪,发育了多层系的从基性、中基性到中酸性的火山岩及火山碎屑岩组合,而南缘合肥盆地仅在晚侏罗世早白垩世产出钙碱性火山岩及火山碎屑岩组合,反映出不同的深部构造过程和源区特征;②北缘的岩石圈减薄可能始于约163 Ma,南缘明显的岩石圈减薄则始于约149 Ma,而反映在盆地构造与充填尺度上的伸展作用分别对应于大约145 Ma和132 Ma;③晚侏罗世构造转折期,北缘燕辽地区粗碎屑沉积以河流体系为主,反映盆山地势高差较小;而南缘该期发育冲积扇体系,盆山地势高差较大;④北缘盆地沉积中心迁移规律复杂,而南缘总体呈现由南向北的迁移趋势。显然,大别山碰撞造山和后造山期强烈的隆升和剥露对南缘盆地演化具有极大的主导和制约作用,而北缘则显示出强烈的壳幔相互作用并伴有区域性的陆内挤压推覆（转折前）和张裂 伸展（转折后）交替的特点。华北克拉通晚中生代构造转折的时限北缘较南缘早,说明诱发这一转折事件的区域构造动力可能首先与华北北部壳幔相互作用密切关联。     

鄂尔多斯盆地西南缘奥陶系的对比划分意见及其对中西部油气勘探的意义

根据野外实测剖面及多年积累的古生物地层资料,建立了鄂尔多斯盆地西南缘包括2个群及以笔石带为据的9个组。强调下奥陶统与中—上奥陶统是该区及整个中国中西部地区的一个重要层序和盆地原型分界。代表 SaukⅢ上部的下奥陶统在鄂尔多斯、塔里木和扬子地区表现为被动边缘上的以台地相碳酸盐岩占优势的伸展盆地沉积,其顶部风化壳是本区及塔里木大油(气)田的主力储层。以 Tippecanoe(O_2—D_(?))层序和以中—上奥陶统为主的地层,是鄂尔多斯和塔里木最有价值的有效烃源岩层,它代表了加里东期聚敛到碰撞的挠曲型复理石至磨拉石前陆盆地的沉积,而古中央隆起是这个弧后前陆的前隆部位。     

The anatomy of a sulphate platform and adjacent basin system in the Leba sub-basin of the Lower Werra Anhydrite (Zechstein, Upper Permian), northern Poland

The Lower Werra Anhydrite (Zechstein, Upper Permian) deposits of the teba area originated in a deep basin setting, in shallow to deep water conditions. Facies changes occur within small distances and suggest fluctuating boundaries between well defined basins and platforms. This pattern of local platforms and adjacent basins developed during deposition. In basinal areas, the sequence is clearly transgressive, whereas on platforms accumulation kept pace with subsidence after an initial transgression. Nodular anhydrite represents a polygenetic deposit which formed at different times with respect to deposition. Massive anhydrite with pseudomorphs after upright-growth gypsum crystals suggest rapid precipitation in a subaqueous environment and/or fluctuating, but generally high, salinity conditions. Massive clastic sulphate originated due to periodic high energy events and resedimentation, or due to brecciation possibly connected with salinity fluctuations and the dissolution of halite. Massive, textureless anhydrite is locally porous and passes upward into breccia, indicating a strongly saline environment. Bedded anhydrite is considered to form in shallow water environments and laminated anhydrite in deep water. Bedded anhydrites contain portions which are graded. Intercalations of sulphate turbidites and upright-growth gypsum suggest fluctuating water depths, with comparatively deep water during turbidite deposition, but shallower conditions during upright-growth gypsum deposition. The sequence observed in slope zones at platform-basin margins, detrital (parautochthonous) sulphate sand to graded beds to basinal laminites, indicates that redistribution processes were important. At the onset of the Lower Werra Anhydrite deposition bathymetric relief existed between the central part of the basin and its margins, where carbonate platforms remained subaerially exposed. Formation of local platforms and adjacent basins required a relatively high subsidence rate, as pre-existing relief cannot account for the total accumulated thickness of the Lower Werra Anhydrite deposits. One implication of this is that the main argument against ‘the shallow water - shallow basin’ evaporite basin model, i.e.,a very fast rate of subsidence, may not be valid for the Łeba Lower Werra Anhydrite basin.     

Geophysical studies of the major sedimentary basins of the indian craton, their deep structural features and evolution

The peninsular shield of India is characterized by a number of intra-cratonic sedimentary basins of which the Cuddapah and Vindhyan Basins are conspicuous.The crescent-shaped Cuddapah Basin (~1400 m.y.) covering roughly 35,000 square kilometers in the southern peninsula and enclosing the Cuddapah formations (Precambrian) includes shallow marine shales, limestones, sandstones and quartzites. These sediments are overlain by the younger Kurnool formations of Vindhyan (Upper Precambrian) age in the western and northern marginal portions of the basin and are intruded by basaltic sils and dykes. The eastern margin of the basin is characterized by an overthrust with steeply folded beds, while in the remaining parts, the formations show a gentle eastward dip. Evidence for Recent epeirogenic movements is provided by geomorphic features and current seismicity.The Great Vindhyan Basin of north-central India covering more than 100,000 square kilometers encloses Vindhyan sediments including some marine shales and limestones in the lower parts and shallow-water deposits of red sandstones and shales in the upper parts. The beds are generally horizontal, but are strongly disturbed along the southern margin. There are intrusions of basaltic dykes and kimberlite pipes.The Gondwana basins (Upper Carboniferous to Jurassic) are relatively smaller cratonic units in Archaean faulted troughs.Gravity and magnetic investigations, both regional and detailed, supplemented by deep seismic sounding profiles in the Cuddapah Basin have brought out the deep structural features of the basin, including the Moho, indicating a total thickness of generally 5–8 km with a maximum thickness of sediments of nearly 12 km in the eastern part. The beds show both a layered structure in the horizontal and block structure in the vertical, disturbed by a low-angle thrust fault on the eastern margin. In the Vindhyan Basin, the gravity and magnetic data indicate about 5000 m of sediments in the central portions, with major, roughly faults over the western and southern margins.The deep structural features of these intra-cratonic basins, as indicated by the geophysical results, are discussed in relation to the geological theories proposed for their genesis and development.     

Pleistocene stratigraphy of the Boco Plain,western Tasmania

The Late Devonian‐Early Carboniferous Mansfield Basin is the northernmost structural sub‐basin of the Mt Howitt Province of east‐central Victoria. It is comprised predominantly of continental clastic sedimentary rocks, and is superimposed upon deformed Cambrian to Early Devonian marine sequences of the Palaeozoic Lachlan Fold Belt. This paper documents evidence for synsedimentary deformation during the early history of the Mansfield Basin, via sedimentological, structural and stratigraphic investigations. Repeating episodes of folding, erosion and sedimentation are demonstrated along the preserved western margins of Mansfield Basin, where fold structures within the lower sequences are truncated by intrabasinal syntectonic unconformities. A convergent successor basin setting (an intermontane setting adjacent to, or between major fault zones) is suggested for initial phases of basin deposition, with synsedimentary reverse faulting being responsible for source uplift and subsequent basin deformation. Palaeocurrents within conglomerate units indicate derivation from the west and are consistent with episodic thrusting along basin margin faults providing elevated source regions. Periods of tectonic quiescence are represented by finer grained meandering fluvial facies (indicative of lower regional topographic gradients) which display drainage patterns that appear not to have been influenced by bounding faults to the west. An up‐sequence increase in the textural and compositional maturity of basin sandstones and conglomerates is proposed to be a result of the incorporation of basin fill into ongoing basin deformation, with unstable metapelitic rocks being progressively winnowed from clast populations. Rather than resulting from Carboniferous (Kanimblan) reactivation of extensional structures, as is generally assumed, the deformation observed within the lower units of the Mansfield Basin is suggested here to be essentially syndepositional and at least Late Devonian in age.     

Late Miocene Mediterranean desiccation: topography and significance of the `Salinity Crisis' erosion surface on-land in southeast Spain

The result of sea level fall at the margins of the Mediterranean during the Late Miocene `Salinity Crisis' was the creation of an extensive erosion surface. However, the shape of this `Salinity Crisis' unconformity reflects local factors and in turn significantly determined local conditions during subsequent reflooding. At Sorbas, in southeast Spain, erosional overdeepening of a pre-existing basin during drawdown created a depression over 200 m deep with an incised floor patterned by 30-m-deep gullies. During reflooding this semi-enclosed palaeovalley temporarily became a barred basin in which gypsum was deposited. These Sorbas evaporites thus resulted from local basin sculpture. Diverse local effects elsewhere during drawdown and reflooding account for marked stratigraphic variations that continue to complicate recognition and correlation of the `Salinity Crisis' in marginal successions. The drawdown erosion surface is itself the key indicator of this important event in marginal Mediterranean basins.     

Messinian sea level fall in the Dacic Basin (Eastern Paratethys): palaeogeographical implications from seismic sequence stratigraphy

The signature of the Mediterranean Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) in the Paratethys has received wide attention because of the inferred changes in connectivity and base level. In this article, we present sequence stratigraphic interpretations on a seismic transect across the western part of the semi-isolated Late Miocene–Pliocene Dacic Basin (Eastern Paratethys, Romania), chronologically constrained by biostratigraphic field observations and well data. They reveal significant sea level changes during the middle Pontian that are coeval with the MSC. These changes were most likely transmitted to the western Dacic Basin from the downstream Black Sea and controlled by the sill height of the interconnecting gateway. During the middle Pontian lowstand of the western Dacian Basin, sedimentation continued in a remnant ∼300 m deep lake with a positive water balance. Our observations show that the evolution of semi-isolated sedimentary basins is strongly dependent on the communication with other depositional realms through its control on base level and sediment supply.     

孟加拉湾地区大陆边缘盆地勘探概况与油气富集主控因素

孟加拉湾位于印度大陆以东、缅甸-安达曼-苏门答腊以西、孟加拉国南部海上地区,该区存在主动和被动两种不同类型的大陆边缘,并发育众多大陆边缘含油气盆地。根据板块位置和构造特征将其划分为三大类,分别是:被动大陆边缘盆地(马哈纳迪、K-G和高韦里盆地);主动大陆边缘盆地(若开、缅甸中央、马达班、安达曼和北苏门答腊盆地);残留洋盆地(孟加拉盆地)。根据火山岛弧带分布情况进一步将主动大陆边缘盆地划分为:①海沟型——若开盆地;②弧前型——缅甸中央盆地;③弧后型——马达班、安达曼和北苏门答腊盆地。对这些盆地油气勘探情况的统计与分析表明,该区大陆边缘盆地的油气分布主控因素为:烃源岩类型与有机质丰度决定了流体性质与资源强度;大型河流—三角洲形成富油气区;盆地类型、性质及晚期构造活动强度决定区带勘探潜力。     

沉积盆地动力学与模拟研究

沉积盆地动力学过程与模拟研究是当前地球科学研究的前沿领域。盆地形成演化的动力学机制、盆地沉积充填过程与模拟、盆地规模的流体动力学等方面的研究近年来取得了重要进展。从定性的静态描述分析转向定量的动态过程研究是当前盆地动力学研究的主要发展趋势。盆地形成机制研究在深部过程控制、多重机制联合作用、幕式裂陷和反转过程等方面取得显著进展。前陆盆地构造—充填过程和模拟、构造活动盆地层序地层学、盆地充填过程分析与模拟等研究代表了盆地充填动力学研究的最新成果。盆地流体过程和模拟是当前的一个研究热点,盆地流体的识别、追踪和盆地规模的流体动力学分析与模拟获得突出性进展。     

赣杭构造带红层盆地原型及其沉积作用

盆地原型是指盆地沉积时的构造属性类型,盆地原型分析就是按阶段的盆地结构分析法。文章暂不讨论赣杭带晚侏罗世-早白垩世早期的火山杂色断陷盆地,而以实地观察资料和前期研究成果,对早白垩世晚期以后形成的一系列NEE方向分布的红色断陷盆地及其沉积作用进行综合分析。盆地红层下部夹有玄武岩层,已有的K-Ar年龄值为 105~98Ma,由此判断赣杭带红色断陷盆地演化从早白垩世晚期开始。早期属典型的断陷盆地,呈现半地堑式形态,北界为向南倾斜的正断层,南界为超覆不整合。晚白垩世中后期演变为拗陷盆地,沉积盆地扩大,南北两侧均见到超覆不整合,北侧部分地段保留早期断裂边界。河流沉积作用为最主要沉积作用方式,盆地中心部位可见少量内生沉积的白云岩、泥灰岩及炭质泥岩。沉积组合大致为湖泊相、冲积扇相、三角洲相及河流相,代表了拉张型盆地的基本沉积类型,也反映了断陷湖盆由初始拉张断陷、中后期扩张为拗陷、到最后萎缩的完整过程。     

鄂尔多斯盆地三叠系延长组长8—长7油层组高分辨率层序地层格架及其地质意义

鄂尔多斯盆地三叠系长8—长7油层组位于延长组中下部,代表湖盆最大扩张期,主要属于湖成三角洲相。运用高分辨率层序地层学原理,详细分析了鄂尔多斯盆地三叠系延长组长8—长7油层组地层沉积的基准面旋回特征,识别出1个长期旋回、3个中期旋回(MSC3、MSC4、MSC5)和15~25个短期旋回,分析得出长8油层组为三角洲环境,到长7油层组则演变为半深—深湖环境。3个中期旋回当中,MSC3、MSC4是以上升半旋回为主的不对称旋回,并在MSC4上升半旋回顶部形成盆地最大湖泛面,MSC5以下降半旋回为主的不对称旋回,发育浊积扇。对不同井基准面旋回的分析得出:储集层段多发育于短期基准面上升半旋回的水下分流河道、河口坝和浊流沉积砂体中,且砂体与前三角洲泥构成的烃源岩相匹配,形成岩性油气藏。运用高分辨率层序地层学原理建立地层格架对指导鄂尔多斯盆地延长组油气勘探具有重要指导意义。     

Structure of the North Kara Shelf from results of seismostratigraphic analysis

The sedimentary cover section of the North Kara Shelf had been subdivided based on extensive seismic data, and seismic correlation was carried out. The predominant role of Upper Riphean-Middle Paleozoic rocks has been corroborated. A series of relatively deepwater basins filled with primarily terrigenous fly-schoid rocks up to 7–9 km in thickness existed in the Late Riphean-Vendian at the place of the shelf. In the Cambrian, isolated basins merged into a wide and shallow-water basin as a result of the Baikalian reactivation in southeast Severnaya Zemlya and probably in Taimyr. After the pre-Ordovician hiatus, a vast sedimentation basin with a regressive section was formed on the shelf from Ordovician to Late Devonian. Shallow-water marine and near-shore carbonate and carbonate-terrigenous sequences accumulated in this basin and gave way to continental and less frequent near-shore, marine, variegated, and red beds in the Devonian. The thickness of the Ordovician-Devonian sequence reaches 6 km. Since the Mid-Carboniferous, block emergence and deep erosion of Ordovician-Devonian complexes have occurred in the north Kara shelf as a result of Hercynian events in northern Taimyr, Severnaya Zemlya, and in the southern Kara Sea. No Permian-Triassic rifts existed on the North Kara Shelf. At that time, the shelf was an area of erosion. The thickness of the Middle Carboniferous-Cretaceous sequence was insignificant and gradually increased toward Barents Sea troughs. The newly formed Svyataya Anna and Voronin troughs arose due to opening of the Eurasia Basin of the Arctic Ocean. The terrane concept has been subjected to criticism. The available data show that a large epi-Grenvillian continental block existed, and the North Kara region was part of it. Collision of the northern continent with the Paleosiberian Platform in the Late Paleozoic resulted in the formation of the Hercynian fold arc to the south of the North Kara Shelf, and an inverted orogenic arch arose at the place of shelf basin. The individual geological features that distinguish the North Kara Shelf from the Barents Sea troughs and the South Kara Syneclise are emphasized. The ancient pre-Riphean basement, a system of Late Riphean-Vendian relatively deepwater troughs and basins, Hercynian tectonic inversion, deep erosion of the most uplifted part of the arch, and significant block motions are the distinguishing features of the North Kara Shelf.     

南沙海域盆地群早中新世“挤压隆升幕”及其构造意义

本文依据南沙海域实际地震测线资料,相关证据显示早中新世(T₆₀-T₄₀之间)南沙腹地多盆地发生挤压反转构造,南沙西南部多见挤压褶皱。南沙海域及周边地区在早中新世开始发生全区的挤压隆升和剥蚀,经过局部剥蚀量和构造抬升量定量估算,认为隆升核心区域的九章盆地由于挤压隆升导致的地层剥蚀量大于3 500 m。"早中新世挤压隆升幕"形成一个以郑和隆起为核心的"碟形"剥蚀区,活动时间与西南次海盆的扩张时间一致,西南次海盆的扩张可能是造成隆升幕的重要原因。由于隆升剥蚀前存在深埋,南沙腹地(九章盆地为代表)和南沙北缘(中业、永登盆地为代表)的"浅、薄、小"盆地群的价值不容忽视。     

前陆、前陆盆地和前陆盆地系统

前陆是指与造山带相毗连的构造相对稳定地区，造山带的岩石向着它俯冲成掩覆，可分为三种类型，即曾为被动型大陆边缘的（Ⅰ型），曾与沟－弧系有关的（Ⅱ型）和陆内造山带前方的（Ⅲ型）。前陆盆地为沿造山带前陆区分布的线状压性深坳陷，可分为周缘前陆盆地，弧后前陆盆地和陆内前陆盆地三种类型。前陆盆地系统是一个沿造山带分布的长条状的潜在沉积可容空间，可划分为楔顶，前渊，前隆和隆后等4个部分。     

四川盆地中部主干走滑断裂带及伴生构造特征与演化

根据下—中三叠统嘉陵江组和雷口坡组膏盐岩层内的伴生构造及上震旦统灯影组台缘带被错动的位置、方向与距离,判定川中及北斜坡地区主干走滑断裂带的性质与分布规律。嘉陵江组和雷口坡组膏盐岩层内发育多排呈左阶排列的NW向雁列式构造,与深部(盐下)走滑断裂构成2种伴生组合。第1种组合主要发育在磨溪地区,膏盐岩层内的雁列式构造位于深部走滑断裂的正上方;第2种组合主要发育在北斜坡地区,膏盐岩层内的雁列式构造发育在2条主干走滑断裂带之间。根据这2种组合及灯影组台缘带的错动位置,共识别出6条主干走滑断裂带。在盆地整体演化格架的制约下,通过川中地区代表性生长构造的定量解析,将走滑断裂演化划分为3个阶段:(1)晚奥陶世—志留纪右行走滑阶段;(2)晚古生代—三叠纪走滑断裂沉寂阶段;(3)中侏罗世至今左行走滑阶段。其中,上震旦统灯影组二段台缘带呈现出有规律的向东逐段错动(错动距离20~40 km)的特征,可作为加里东期右行走滑活动的间接证据;川中及北斜坡地区在晚三叠世处于扬子地块北缘和雪峰山前陆盆地前缘隆起的隆后稳定地区,而中侏罗世以来周缘造山带的急剧隆升与差异性演化使得川中地区遭受持续的挤压和抬升,激发了基底断裂与早期走滑断裂的再次活动。     

同构造沉积分析反演逆冲构造变形过程--燕山东段凌源南部中生代逆冲构造变形过程研究

介绍了同构造沉积分析的基本概念、研究思路、主要研究方法及其在区域构造变形过程研究中的重要作用。基于对辽西凌源南部区域构造变形、晚侏罗世土城子组同构造沉积粗碎屑沉积物成分变化规律的研究 ,获得如下主要认识 :( 1)同构造沉积始于髫髻山组火山活动之后 ;沉积物成分变化及古水动力特征表明 ,同构造沉积物源区主体位于盆地西侧褶皱隆起区 ,而不是来自南东方向的大型逆冲断层上盘的前渊沉积 ;而且显示了正常层序的物源区倾斜岩层的剥蚀和揭顶过程 ;当时的剥蚀作用已达中元古界蓟县系雾迷山组上部。 ( 2 )分布于郭家店盆地和邓杖子盆地之间的中元古界长城系地层“残片” ,与其东侧北票组间为向SEE逆冲的断层接触 ,而西侧与土城子组 (原邓杖子组 )之间为不整合接触 ;在老虎沟东南长城系地层“残片”不复存在的区域 ,土城子组不整合于北票组之上。该“残片”很可能是髫髻山组火山活动之前指向SEE的逆冲构造变形形成的飞来峰构造的残余部分。( 3 )凌源南部中生代逆冲构造变形可以区分为 :早侏罗世北票组之前 (印支期 )由北向南的逆冲作用、北票组之后髫髻山组之前向SEE的冲断推覆、髫髻山组之后的逆冲褶皱变形与同构造沉积作用以及九佛堂组之后局部的逆冲作用。指向SEE的主要逆冲作用以及伴生褶皱变形     

Implications of gravity data from East Kalimantan and the Makassar Straits: a solution to the origin of the Makassar Straits?

Recent free-air gravity data covering the Makassar Straits is integrated with Bouguer gravity data from onshore East Kalimantan to provide new insights into the basement structure of the region. Onshore Kalimantan, gravity highs on the northern margin of the Kutai Basin trend NNE–SSW and N–S and correspond with the axes of inverted Eocene half-grabens. NW–SE trending lows correspond to deep seated basement weaknesses reactivated as normal faults during the Tertiary. An intra-basin gravity high trending NNE–SSW, the Kutai Lakes Gravity High, is modelled as folded high density Paleogene sediments flanked by syn-inversion synclines infilled with low density sediments. Offshore Kalimantan, the Makassar Straits include two basins offset by an en-echelon fault zone, suggestive of an extensional origin. The regional signature of the free-air anomaly data mirrors the bathymetry, but this effect can be reduced by the use of filters in order to examine the basin architecture. The free-air gravity minimum in the Makassar Strait is only −20 mGal, much smaller than that appropriate for a foreland basin, and more indicative of an extensional basin. The steepness of the gradients on the flanks of the basins indicates fault control of their margins. A regional 2D profile across the North Makassar Basin suggests the presence of attenuated crust (<14 km) in the basin axis at the present day, whereas flexural backstripping implies the presence of oceanic crust of middle Eocene age. The presence of oceanic crust in the North Makassar Straits Basin has implications for regional plate tectonic models.     

南沙海域新生代盆地类型及演化历史

南沙海域主要的新生代盆地及其类型为:(1)曾母盆地,走滑一周缘前陆型;(2)万安盆地,拉张剪切型;(3)沙巴一文莱盆地,弧前盆地;(4)湄公河盆地,陆内断陷型;(5)西纳土纳盆地,剪切拉张型。这些盆地沉积厚度大多在3000m 以上,最厚大干12000m,含海、陆相沉积,具较好的油气勘探前景。其演化历史最早的始于始新世,最晚的始于渐新世晚期,文中对各盆地演化历史作了对比。