Dinantian sedimentation and the basement structure of the Derbyshire Dome

The depositional history of the Dinantian on the Derbyshire Dome can be divided into three phases: (1) pre-Holkerian: onlap of an irregular basement surface by evaporite and carbonate sediments, (2) Holkerian to Asbian: sedimentation on a carbonate shelf formed by the merging of early Dinantian depocentres following burial of the basement topography, and (3) Brigantian: formation of intrashelf basins and the development of a carbonate ramp on part of the pre-existing shelf. A model of the basement structure underlying the Derbyshire Dome is presented to explain the location of the Brigantian intrashelf basins and carbonate ramp. The basement consists of two main tilted fault blocks separated by a smaller tilt block. Movement on faults bounding the tilt blocks caused the development of intrashelf basins. The basin margins were controlled by structures which developed in the cover sediments. The carbonate ramp present during the late Brigantian developed in response to an eastward tilting of the basement.     

Architecture of late orogenic Quaternary basins in northeastern Mediterranean Sea

In the northeastern Mediterranean Sea, Pliocene to Quaternary depocentres have formed in extensional basins bounded by splays of the East Anatolian Transform Fault. This tectonic regime is superimposed on a Miocene and older back-arc environment, that experienced late Miocene compression along the Misis-Kyrenia thrust, which now lies in the middle of the extensional zone. The thrust zone is now represented by a narrow horst that appears to be bounded by strike-slip faults. Pliocene-Quaternary extension took place on listric fault fans that are orthogonal to the bounding transform splays and sole at a Messinian evaporite horizon, and on some deeper-soling listric faults parallel to and near the bounding faults. The rapid extension has resulted in progressive landward migration of paleoshorelines and low depositional gradients. Glacio-eustatic fluctuations in shoreline positions strongly influenced sediment distribution. Most sediment dispersion was from deltaic plumes, with turbidites of minor significance. Depocentres landward of the maximum seaward extent of paleoshorelines were formed almost entirely by tectonic subsidence. Minor deep-water depocentres, controlled by halokinesis, accumulated mud turbidites during extreme low-stands of sea-level.     

The Isle of Wedmore relay ramp: how fault evolution created King Alfred's historic landmark

The Isle of Wedmore covers an area of ~ 19 km², rises up to ~ 65 m above the surrounding lowlands of the Somerset Levels, and was an island until the Middle Ages. The topography is interpreted as having been formed by a relay ramp between two right-stepping faults (the Weare Fault to the west and the Mudgley Fault to the east) which have tens of metres of downthrow to the south, and which are probably normal faults. The relay ramp has a dip of about 3° to the SW and is breached by the NW-striking Wedmore Fault, which has up to ~ 23 m downthrow to the NE. Several NE-trending faults occur in the relay ramp, which are interpreted as having formed when the relay ramp became a contractional step when the Weare and Mudgley faults underwent sinistral reactivation, or as N–S contraction occurred during the Cenozoic. Analogues for this behaviour are presented from the Liassic rocks on the coast between Lilstock and East Quantoxhead.     

南中国海成因:右行拉分作用与左行转换挤压作用交替

总结分析了南中国海各次级盆地及其周缘有关盆地的裂谷作用序列 ,认为它们的裂谷作用序列是相似的 ,虽然存在局部差异。古近纪 (—早中新世 )和新近纪分别为一级裂谷阶段和后裂谷阶段 ,并可进一步划分次一级裂谷和后裂谷阶段。南中国海总体几何学特征及其次级盆地和周缘盆地的几何学特征表明 ,它们的裂谷作用是以近南北向主断裂为主剪切的右行拉分作用。在右行拉分过程中 ,东越南断裂的南延 (翼他陆架部分 )可能没有发生巨大脆性平移而表现为巨大的右行韧性牵引 ;印支—苏门答腊地块是被东越南断裂、东安达曼海断裂、红河断裂和苏门答腊断裂等四条断裂围限的呈菱形的右行走滑双重构造。深海盆的洋壳在许多方面与概念化大洋洋壳不同 ,相互矛盾的各种磁异常条带年龄并不可信。它的洋壳是右行拉分作用形成的洋壳。它们的后裂谷作用是以近南北向主断裂为主剪切的左行转换挤压反转变形为特征。联系到裂谷作用序列 ,南中国海成因具有右行拉分作用、裂谷作用和左行转换挤压作用交替出现的特征 ,表现了具有转换性质的“开”与“合”的更迭     

从地震信息看阿尔金断裂带构造和塔里木盆地花彩弧断裂体系

阿尔金断裂带由多条断裂组成,主要有阿尔金断裂、且末断裂、三危山断裂。其中阿尔金断裂为主断裂,它呈左旋走滑兼具逆冲性质,中生代—古近纪为左旋走滑,新近纪由东南向西北逆冲推覆。且末断裂和三危山断裂均具左旋走滑性质。且末断裂受统一的阿尔金断裂带左旋应力场控制,但又叠加了塔里木台盆区向南挤压的应力场,从而具有双重属性。塔里木盆地的断裂总体上组成古生界塔北花彩弧断裂束和塔南花彩弧断裂束,展布成全盆地的菱形断裂系统,且末断裂构成其东南边界。在该菱形断裂系统的北弧顶和菱形内的中央轴部为背冲式的构造断裂带,显示挤压特征;在花彩弧两翼转弯处展布正花状构造样式,显示走滑特征。阿尔金断裂带及其两侧,主要在柴达木、塔里木两大盆地发现了大油气田,两者都是由断层控制油气的垂向运移与分布。柴达木盆地具有双重断—坳的特点,但油气田只分布在中—新生界构造层内;塔里木盆地,南北翘板式的构造运动是其形成复式油气区的最重要的地质构造条件。     

Palaeozoic-Recent geological development and uplift of the Amanos Mountains (S Turkey) in the critically located northwesternmost corner of the Arabian continent

We have carried out a several-year-long study of the Amanos Mountains, on the basis of which we present new sedimentary and structural evidence, which we combine with existing data, to produce the first comprehensive synthesis in the regional geological setting. The ca. N-S-trending Amanos Mountains are located at the northwesternmost edge of the Arabian plate, near the intersection of the African and Eurasian plates. Mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sediments accumulated on the north-Gondwana margin during the Palaeozoic. Triassic rift-related sedimentation was followed by platform carbonate deposition during Jurassic-Cretaceous. Late Cretaceous was characterised by platform collapse and southward emplacement of melanges and a supra-subduction zone ophiolite. Latest Cretaceous transgressive shallow-water carbonates gave way to deeper-water deposits during Palaeocene-Eocene. Eocene southward compression, reflecting initial collision, resulted in open folding, reverse faulting and duplexing. Fluvial, lagoonal and shallow-marine carbonates accumulated during Late Oligocene(?)-Early Miocene, associated with basaltic magmatism. Intensifying collision during Mid-Miocene initiated a foreland basin that then infilled with deep-water siliciclastic gravity flows. Late Miocene-Early Pliocene compression created mountain-sized folds and thrusts, verging E in the north but SE in the south. The resulting surface uplift triggered deposition of huge alluvial outwash fans in the west. Smaller alluvial fans formed along both mountain flanks during the Pleistocene after major surface uplift ended. Pliocene-Pleistocene alluvium was tilted towards the mountain front in the west. Strike-slip/transtension along the East Anatolian Transform Fault and localised sub-horizontal Quaternary basaltic volcanism in the region reflect regional transtension during Late Pliocene-Pleistocene (<4 Ma).     

Newly found Tunglo Active Fault System in the fold and thrust belt in northwestern Taiwan deduced from deformed terraces and its tectonic significance

We found active faults in the fold and thrust belt between Tunglo town and the Tachia River in northwestern Taiwan. The surface rupture occurred in 1999 and 1935 nearby the study area, but no historical surface rupture is recorded in this area, suggesting that the seismic energy has been accumulated during the recent time. Deformed fluvial terraces aid in understanding late Quaternary tectonics in this tectonically active area. This area contains newly identified faults that we group as the Tunglo Fault System, which formed after the area's oldest fluvial terrace and appears at least 16 km long in roughly N–S orientation. Its progressive deformations are all recorded in associated terraces developed during the middle to late Quaternary. In the north, the system consists of two subparallel active faults, the Tunglo Fault and Tunglo East Fault, striking N–S and facing each other from opposite sides of the northward flowing Hsihu River, whose course may be controlled by interactions of above-mentioned two active faults. The northern part of the Tunglo Fault, to the west of the river, is a reverse fault with upthrown side on the west; conversely the Tunglo East Fault, to the east, is also a reverse fault, but with upthrown side on the east. Both faults are marked by a flexural scarp or eastward tilting of fluvial terraces. Considering a Quaternary syncline lies subparallel to the east of this fault system, the Tunglo Fault might be originated as a bending moment fault and the Tunglo East Fault as a flexural slip fault. However, they have developed as obvious reverse faults, which have progressive deformation under E–W compressive stress field of Taiwan. Farther south, a west-facing high scarp, the Tunglo South Fault, strikes NNE–SSW, oblique to the region's E–W direction of compression. Probably due to the strain partitioning, the Tunglo South Fault generates en echelon, elongated ridges and swales to accommodate right-lateral strike–slip displacement. Other structures in the area include eastward-striking portion of the Sanyi Fault, which has no evidence for late Quaternary surface rupture on this fault; perhaps slip on this part of Sanyi Fault ceased when the Tunglo Fault System became active.     

Successive Extensional Tectonic Regimes during the Mesozoic as Evidenced by Neptunian Dikes in the Pontide Magmatic Arc,Northeast Turkey

The eastern Pontide magmatic arc extends ～600 km in an E-W direction along the Black Sea coast and was disrupted by a series of fault systems trending NE-SW, NW-SE, E-W, and N-S. These fault systems are responsible for the formation of diachronous extensional basins, rift or pull-apart, in the northern, southern, and axial zones of the eastern Pontides during the Mesozoic. Successive extensional or transtensional tectonic regimes caused the abortive Liassic rift basins and the Albian and Campanian pull-apart basins with deep-spreading troughs in the southern and axial zones. Liassic, Albian, and Campanian neptunian dikes, which indicate extensional tectonic regimes, crop out within the Paleozoic granites near Kale, Gumushane, and the Malm–Lower Cretaceous platform carbonates in Amasya and Gumushane. These neptunian dikes correspond to extensional cracks that are filled and overlain by the fossiliferous red pelagic limestones. Multidirectional Liassic neptunian dikes are consistent with the general trend of the paleofaults (NE-SW, NW-SE, and E-W), and active dextral North Anatolian fault (NAF) and sinistral Northeast Anatolian fault (NEAF) systems. The Albian neptunian dikes in Amasya formed in the synthetic oblique left-lateral normal faults of the main fault zone that runs parallel to the active North Anatolian fault zone (NAFZ).

Kinematic interpretation of the Liassic and Albian neptunian dikes suggests N-S extensional stress or northward movement of the Pontides along the conjugate fracture zones parallel to the NAFZ and NEAFZ. This northward movement of the Pontides in Liassic and Albian times requires left-lateral and right-lateral slips along the conjugate NAFZ and Northeast Anatolian fault zones (NEAFZ), respectively, in contrast to the recent active tectonics that have been accommodated by N-S compressional stress. On the other hand, mutual relationships between the neptunian dikes and the associated main fault zone of Campanian age extending in an E-W direction in the Kale area, Gumushane suggest the existence of a main left-lateral transtensional wrench zone. This system might be accommodated by the counterclockwise convergence of the Turkish plate with the Afro-Arabian plate relative to the Eurasian plate, and the southward oblique subduction of Paleotethys beneath the eastern Pontide magmatic arc during the Mesozoic.     

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.     

下扬子区侏罗纪-早白垩世盆地沉积构造特征及其演化

沉积中心呈左行斜列,等厚线呈卵形封闭,三组走滑断裂系统影响和控制沉积及火山岩盆地的发育和分布,盆地呈菱形并以拉分性质为主,盆地中的地层层序显示内新外老的环形扩张结构,以及岩浆活动强烈等特征表明:下扬子区侏罗纪-早白垩世为一走滑引张盆地.进一步的研究将其分为两个演化阶段:碎屑沉积为主的早期阶段(J1+2)和岩浆活动为特征的晚期阶段(J3~K1).     

南秦岭寒武-奥陶纪碳酸岩台地演化

南秦岭早古生代碳酸岩台地属于扬子板块北部被动大陆边缘。台地经历了３个演化阶段:①下-中寒武统缓坡沉积阶段；②中寒武统-下奥陶统镶边陆棚沉积阶段；③中-上奥陶统混合陆棚沉积阶段。下志留统的进积陆源碎屑沉积淹没了全区。从台地相带的展布规律和古地理轮廓推测，早古生代时台地北侧可能存在一个已消失了的古陆。     

Transpressional tectonics and nappe stacking along the Southern Variscan Front of Morocco

The Southern Variscan Front in the Tinerhir area involves Palaeozoic allochthonous units (Ouaklim and Tilouine units) thrust onto the northern edge of the West African Craton during late Carboniferous time. Illite crystallinity data highlight an anchizonal grade for the Ouaklim Unit, and a diagenesis-anchizone transition for the Tilouine Unit during deformation phase D1. The tectonic stack is crosscut by major dextral reverse faults bounding E–W trending domains of dominant shortening deformation (central domain) and strike-slip deformation (northern and southern domains), later segmented by a network of post-Variscan faults. This complex deformation pattern is the result of kinematic partitioning of dextral transpression along the Southern Variscan Front, coeval with the Neovariscan (300–290 Ma) oblique convergence observed at the scale of the whole Moroccan Variscides. Partitioning of dextral transpression described in the Tinerhir area is consistent with dextral wrench faulting along the Tizi n’ Test Fault, and with Appalachian-style south-directed thrusting in the Tinerhir and Bechar-Bou Arfa areas.     

Carbonate platform growth and demise offshore Central Vietnam: Effects of Early Miocene transgression and subsequent onshore uplift

Miocene carbonate platforms cover a large part of the Central Vietnamese South China Sea margin. Early carbonate deposition took place on two regional platforms separated by a narrow depression developed along the trace of the East Vietnam Boundary Fault Zone. West of the East Vietnam Boundary Fault Zone, the Tuy Hoa Carbonate Platform fringes the continental margin between Da Nang and Nha Trang. Here, platform growth initiated during the Early Miocene and continued until Middle Miocene time when regional uplift led to subaerial exposure, termination of platform growth and karstification. East of the fault zone, the Triton Carbonate Platform was also initiated during the Early Miocene. Carbonate growth thrived during Early and part of Middle Miocene time and a thick, clean Lower and Middle Miocene carbonate succession cover the Triton Horst and the Qui Nhon Ridge. During the Middle Miocene, partial drowning resulted in the split-up of the Triton Carbonate Platform. Repeated partial drowning events throughout the Middle and Late Miocene resulted in westwards retreat of platform growth and eventual platform drowning and termination of carbonate deposition. Modern carbonate growth continues on isolated platforms hosting the Paracel Islands farther seawards. The onset of widespread carbonate deposition largely reflects the Early Miocene transgression of the area linked with early post-rift subsidence and the opening of the South China Sea. The mid-Neogene shift in carbonate deposition is interpreted as a consequence of regional uplift and denudation of central and south Indochina starting during Middle Miocene time when the Tuy Hoa Carbonate Platform became subaerially exposed. Stressed carbonate growth conditions on the Triton Carbonate Platform probably resulted from increased inorganic nutrient input derived from the uplifted mainland, possibly enhanced by deteriorated climatic conditions and rapid sea-level fluctuations promoting platform drowning.     

Lithofacies and cyclicity of Mohilla evaporite basins on the rifted margin of the Levant in the Late Triassic,Makhtesh Ramon,southern Israel

Marine‐connected basins with evaporites occur beneath most extensional continental margins that originated at low‐latitudes and often are of major economic significance. Cyclicity in the evaporite lithofacies reflects the degree of restriction of the basin, overprinted by sea‐level changes, and caused by structural movements in the barrier region, whether by fault‐block rotation, footwall uplift or hanging wall subsidence, in both extensional and compressional basins. The Upper Triassic evaporites of the Ramon section in southern Israel model cyclic sedimentation in such environments. The Mohilla Formation is a carbonate–evaporate–siliciclastic succession of Carnian age that fills a chain of basins extending along the Levant margin from southern Israel to Jordan and Syria. The basins developed in half‐grabens adjacent to normal faults that formed during a period of regional extension. Evaporites of this formation are well‐exposed in outcrops at Makhtesh Ramon, the southernmost of these basins. The M2 Member of the Mohilla Formation is composed of 42 sub‐metre cycles of alternating dolostone, gypsum and calcareous shales. Field and microfacies analysis showed these cycles to conform mostly to restricted shallow and marginal marine environments, spatially limited by the uplifted shoulders of the half‐graben systems. A total of 10 facies types belonging to six depositional environments have been identified. From stacking patterns and analysis of bed to bed change, cycles can be categorized into three groupings: (i) low frequency exposure to exposure cycles that developed under eustatic or climate control; (ii) high frequency deepening/shallowing‐upward cycles, characterized by gradual transitions due to short‐term sea‐level or runoff‐event oscillations possibly referable to orbital forcing; and (iii) high frequency shallowing‐upward cycles, characterized by abrupt transitions, attributable to sporadic tectonic events affecting accommodation space or barrier effectiveness. The way facies and cycling of the sedimentary environments was deciphered in the Mohilla evaporite basin can be used to unravel the genesis of many other evaporite basins with barriers of tectonic origin.     

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.     

Three-dimensional evolution of the Keuper of the Paris basin based on detailed isopach maps of the stratigraphic cycles: tectonic influences

Detailed isopach maps of the stratigraphic cycles of the Keuper of the Paris basin are used to reconstruct the 3D evolution of the basin cycle by cycle and to investigate the influence of tectonic movements. The major base-level cycles record variations in the rate of subsidence in time and space. The area of greatest subsidence, which was confined to the east of the basin during the Scythian–Carnian cycle, shifted northwestwards during the Carnian–Liassic cycle. Within the “Marnes irisées inférieures”, the E–W faults abruptly limited the extent of salt deposits to the north and south by forming a “corridor” where subsidence was greater. The westward shift of areas of subsidence induced by the migration of fault activity enhanced the migration of salt series which was bounded by the Saint-Martin-de-Bossenay fault. The cessation of fault activity in the eastern part of the basin marked the end of halite sedimentation. From the “Grès à roseaux” formation, a general northwestward tilt of the basin with corresponding depocentre migration induced a truncation within the “Marnes irisées supérieures”. The depocentres were located in the west which was the site of most fault activity which influenced the fluvial deposits by creating tilted blocks where sediment could accumulate.     

Tertiary geodynamic evolution of the Southern Adria microplate

The southern Adria microplate is the common foreland for the Hellenide and Southern Apennine thrust belts. The Apulian Platform dominates the microplate; outcrop, well and seismic data allow us to trace the carbonate platform edge, whilst structural analysis, geophysical and palaeomagnetic data provide important clues to the geodynamic evolution of the region. The present structural fabric of Apulia is dominated by several E-W lineaments that divide the region into different blocks (Rospo Plateau, Gargano Promontory, Murge Ridge, Salento Peninsula, Apulian Plateau). One such lineament (the Pescara Dubrovnik ‘Line’, a prominent feature traversing the Adriatic Sea between central Italy and southern Croatia) has been active since the early Mesozoic, when it acted as a major transform fault controlling sedimentation along the northern margin of Southern Adria. During the Cenozoic the Pescara-Dubrovnik underwent predominantly vertical and oblique movement due to a differential flexural response of the platform and the adjacent pelagic sequences to the thrust belt loading. In Tertiary time the Southern Adria microplate was partly involved in HeIlenide collision. The Apulian platform can be considered as an area of thicker crust more resistant to underthrusting than the surrounding basins. During the orogenic events it acted as a passive rigid indentor, causing local distortion of the most external Hellenide structures. The dextral transpressive activity recorded along the south-east margin of this indentor (Kephallinia line) can be interpreted as the result of the oblique collision between the margin of the thick Apulian Platform (in this zone NNE-SSW striking) and the NW-SE striking Hellenic thrust belt. Horizontal stress generated during the collision was partly transmitted to the rigid foreland re-activating palaeo E-W faults within the south Adria microplate in a dextral strike-slip sense. The clockwise rotation recorded in the Salento Peninsula can be explained by the rotation of several NW-SE striking faulted blocks. The rotation was accompanied by the opening of small transtensional basins between blocks. This block rotation was caused by the dextral shear that is expressed along the North and the South Salento Fault Zones.     

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.     

黔南台陷碳酸盐型铅锌矿床成矿条件及找矿模型

志留纪末期广西运动，使扬子淮地台与华南褶皱带碰拼接在一起形成统一地台后，在泥盆纪时期地台活化为张性，晚泥盆世产生了沿基地断裂的热液活动并成矿，这就是黔南台陷成矿的地质背景，通过典型矿床特征分析，把黔南台陷中的铅锌矿床分为两类；即与同生沉作用相关的锌矿床和以顺层充填和交代作用为主的热液型铅锌矿床，对成矿地质条件进行分析，指出了区域成矿模式及找矿模型，认为黔南台陷铅锌矿床成因为产于碳酸盐岩中的沉积改造型铅锌矿床和热液型铅锌矿床。     

南沙西南海域新生代构造活动特征与盆地演化

南沙海域处于已俯冲消亡的古南海和海底扩张形成的新南海洋盆之间, 其研究对于了解中生代末期以来南海北部陆缘张裂、新南海海底扩张和古南海向南俯冲消亡等构造过程具有重要意义.通过利用平衡剖面反演对该区新生代以来的构造活动和盆地演化进行研究.结果发现, 该区新生代以来的构造活动具有显著的分区性特征, 表现为以区内深大断裂为界, 所分隔的3个块体其构造活动的主导因素和活动阶段性存在差异.南沙块体构造活动的主导因素为NW向应力, 构造活动以中—晚中新世为界前张后压, 具有明显的阶段性; 万安盆地构造活动受万安断裂控制, 构造活动阶段性不明显; 曾母块体构造活动特征与南沙块体类似, 具有明显的阶段性, 但具体表现不同.在此基础上, 将该区主要盆地的演化划分为4个阶段, 即裂陷阶段、同沉积阶段、挤压阶段和区域沉降阶段.其表现又因盆地成因类型而有所不同: 北康盆地裂陷和挤压阶段突出, 沉降阶段缺失; 南薇西盆地裂陷阶段南弱北强; 万安盆地缺少挤压阶段; 曾母盆地则4个阶段均非常明显.