From foredeep to orogenic wedge-top: The Cretaceous Songliao retroforeland basin,China

Songliao Basin, the largest Mesozoic intracontinental nonmarine basin in eastern China, initiated during the latest Jurassic as a backarc extensional basin; rifting failed and thermal cooling controlled subsidence through the early Late Cretaceous. Integrating 2-D and 3D reflection seismic and borehole data with regional geological studies, we interpret sedimentary sequence and structural patterns of the Coniacian-Maastrichtian fill of Songliao Basin as defining a retroforeland basin system developed after 88 Ma (marked by the T11 unconformity in the basin), including (1) significant increase in the thickness of the Nenjiang Formation eastward towards orogenic highlands of the Zhangguangcai Range and the convergent continental margin; (2) a shift of detrital provenance in the basin from north to southeast; and (3) propagation of E-W shortened structures, increasing eastward in amplitude, frequency, and degree of inversion toward the orogen. During latest Cretaceous, foreland basin fill progressively deformed, as the foredeep evolved to a wedge-top tectonic setting, marked by the basin-wide T04 unconformity within the upper Nenjiang Formation at 81.6 Ma. Much of the basin was brought into the orogenic wedge and eroded by the end of the Cretaceous. Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous backarc rifting of uncratonized basement comprised of accreted terranes likely facilitated and localized the foreland. Synrift normal faults reactivated and extensively inverted as thrust faults are prominent in the eastern 1/3 of the basin, whereas folds developed above detachments in shaley early post-rift strata dominate the western 2/3 of the basin. Songliao foreland development likely was driven by changing plate dynamics and collision along the Pacific margin after 88 Ma.     

The geological and geodynamic evolution of the eastern Black Sea basin: insights from 2-D and 3-D tectonic modelling

Subsidence mechanisms that may have controlled the evolution of the eastern Black Sea have been studied and simulated using a numerical model that integrates structural, thermal, isostatic and surface processes in both two- (2-D) and three-dimensions (3-D). The model enables the forward modelling of extensional basin evolution followed by deformation due to subsequent extensional and compressional events. Seismic data show that the eastern Black Sea has evolved via a sequence of interrelated tectonic events that began with early Tertiary rifting followed by several phases of compression, mainly confined to the edges of the basin. A large magnitude (approximately 12 km) of regional subsidence also occurred in the central basin throughout the Tertiary. Models that simulate the magnitude of observed fault controlled extension (β=1.13) do not reproduce the total depth of the basin. Similarly, the modelling of compressional deformation around the edges of the basin does little to enhance subsidence in the central basin. A modelling approach that quantifies lithosphere extension according to the amount of observed crustal thinning and thickening across the basin provides the closest match to overall subsidence. The modelling also shows that deep crustal and mantle–lithosphere processes can significantly influence the rate and magnitude of syn- to post-rift subsidence and shows that such mechanisms may have played an important role in forming the anomalously thin syn-rift and thick Miocene–Quaternary sequences observed in the basin. It is also suggested that extension of a 40–45 km thick pre-rift crust is required to generate the observed magnitude of total subsidence when considering a realistic bathymetry.     

Tectonic inversion in a segmented foreland basin from extensional to piggy back settings: The Tucumán basin in NW Argentina

The Tucumán foreland basin is bounded by: 1) basement cored ranges with elevations over 6000 m in the west; 2) inverted extensional grabens to the north; 3) basement thrust blocks in the south and 4) basement cored small ranges in the east. This foreland basin is located between two geological provinces: the Sierras Pampeanas and the Santa Bárbara system.Cretaceous Salta rifting extended southwards covering the entire eastern part of the province of Tucumán in NW Argentina. Syn-rift and post-rift deposits can be recognized in accordance with their architectural geometries. Foreland basin sediments progressively covered the rift deposits as the Andean orogen propagated towards the east.Despite some early studies, the Tucumán basin is poorly documented. For the present study, 44 sections of 2D seismic surveys amounting to more than 730 km were used to describe the structure and the depositional evolution of the basin. The present structure is the result of a long sequence of events that includes a compressional deformation during the Paleozoic, a rifting stage during the Cretaceous and a foreland stage during the late Cenozoic. Although tectonic inversion, which has played a role during the foreland stage since the Miocene, can be observed in many sectors of the basin, it is more prominent along the margins. Reactivation of old basement discontinuities and inversion of Cretaceous normal faults produced the compartmentalization of the foreland, giving rise to the present shape of the Tucumán basin. This evolution is recorded in the Neogene deposits.     

北黄海盆地构造变形及动力学演化过程

以北黄海盆地构造几何学、运动学特征为基础,探讨了北黄海盆地的构造变形样式及动力学演化过程。研究表明,北黄海盆地的构造变形包括伸展构造变形、挤压构造变形、扭动构造变形以及反转构造变形等,北黄海盆地发育的区域动力学背景即是以区域拉伸作用为主、且叠加有水平挤压作用以及相关的扭动作用,并由此导致了北黄海盆地是以一系列地堑、半地堑式坳陷组成的拉张断陷盆地;北黄海盆地的伸展、挤压与升降作用受控于板块相互作用引起的区域引张与挤压应力场并辅以深部软流圈的微弱上拱隆起作用,其动力学演化过程包括晚侏罗世—早白垩世伸展断陷、晚白垩世—古新世热隆、始新世—渐新世裂陷、渐新世末期—新近纪早期构造反转以及新近纪热沉降等5个阶段。     

Why rifts invert in compression

The common observation of sedimentary basin inversion in orogenic forelands implies that rifts constitute weak areas of the continental lithosphere. When compressed, the rifts respond with uplift of the deepest parts and erosion of sediments therein. Simultaneously, syn-compressional marginal troughs are formed flanking the inversion zone.Since rifting and subsequent post-rift thermal re-equilibration are processes expected to alter the long-term mechanical state of the lithosphere, the phenomenon of basin inversion is non-trivial from a rheological point of view. Stochastic modelling of the long-term thermal structure beneath sedimentary basins indicates that the crustal part of a rift is warmer, and hence weaker, than the surrounding crustal blocks. In contrast, the mantle part is cold and strong beneath the basin centre.In this paper, it is investigated whether the rifting-induced strength alterations constitute a sufficient condition for a thermally equilibrated rift to invert by compression. Numerical experiments with two-dimensional dynamic thermo-mechanical models are performed. In particular, the focus is on rifting-related mechanical instabilities that reduce the load bearing capacity of the lithosphere. In the experiments, strain-softening behaviour is introduced in the non-associated plasticity model representing brittle yielding. The result is self-consistent large-scale fault formation.The models predict that the rifting-related necking instability induces differential crustal thinning increasing the post-rift crustal weakness. Strain softening and the associated fault formation amplifies the necking instability and introduces zones of structural weakness exposed for compressional re-activation.Under these circumstances, basin inversion follows as a natural consequence of rift compression.     

渤海西部海域新生代构造与演化及对油气聚集的控制

渤海西部处于渤海湾盆地黄骅坳陷中北区,东与渤中坳陷衔接,周临多个新生代富(含)烃洼陷,该区具有较大的油气勘探潜力。本文利用区内现有的大量勘探资料对其基本构造特征、演化史及其对油气聚集的控制作用进行了详细的研究与探讨。认为研究区整体构造格架受近东西向、北东向、北西向3组基底断裂控制,近东西向和北西向断层控制古近纪断陷及区内整体构造格局,而北东向与北西向断层在新近纪发生较强烈的走滑活动; 研究区新生代经历了多阶段演化过程,同时又整体表现出具隆拗过渡、整体隆升的演化背景; 复杂多阶段的演化过程使得区内油气多层位复式成藏; 另外,新近纪晚期构造活跃使得区内油气多在新近系浅层晚期成藏,并沿北西向与北东向断层优势成藏展布。     

莺歌海盆地异常裂后沉降的动力学机制

为了理解莺歌海盆地形成与演化的动力过程, 用回剥法和应变速率反演方法对该区的钻井和地层剖面资料进行了研究.研究结果表明莺歌海盆地观测得到的裂后沉降和模拟预测的理论裂后沉降结果存在较大差异, 其中在西北部为300~500 m, 中部和东南部为900~1200 m, 其异常裂后沉降明显呈现向东南和向海方向递大的趋势.地幔对流模型预测的结果表明, 20 Ma以来南海北部边缘的动力地貌沉降量为300 m, 因此, 莺歌海盆地裂后异常沉降在300 m左右的地区可以用动力地貌沉降机理来解释, 但是盆地中部和东南部的巨厚的异常沉降远大于动力地貌沉降量, 它是自晚中新世以来盆缘断层的右旋走滑作用、裂后热回沉和动力地貌沉降共同作用的结果.      

大杨树盆地的构造特征及变形期次

大杨树盆地是叠置于大兴安岭造山带的东部,与松辽盆地紧邻,呈北北东向长条带状展布的中新生代断陷-坳陷型盆地。大杨树盆地经历了多期变形作用,具有以伸展构造为主、并被挤压构造和反转构造叠加的构造特征。早白垩世龙江期主要受到了NWW—SEE向的拉伸作用,形成一系列北北东向控陷犁式正断层组合,在控陷断层的上盘发育小型箕状断陷;早白垩世九峰山期,大杨树盆地受挤压作用控制,使早期形成的断陷盆地发生反转作用,形成正反转构造,同时在某些地段形成逆冲断层和断层传播褶皱;早白垩世甘河期,大杨树盆地再次受到伸展作用,形成了一系列北北东向小型断陷。早白垩世晚期(甘河期之后)—晚白垩世早期,大杨树盆地受到强烈的挤压作用,使早期控陷正断层出现正反转作用,在盆地的浅部形成大型断层传播褶皱,使大杨树盆地全面隆升遭受剥蚀。第四纪大杨树盆地具有伸展的特征,发育一系列小型伸展断陷。     

Structural and geomorphic features accommodating groundwater of Al-Madinah City, Saudi Arabia

Al-Madinah City is located in the western part of Saudi Arabia on the Arabian Shield. The area underwent several tectonic events that developed its structural and geomorphic features, such as the Infracambrian Najd strike-slip faults, development of the Cenozoic basaltic flows of Northern Harrat Rahat, and Cenozoic N–S and E–W transtensional faults, related to the Red Sea rifting. These successive events formed a deltaic-shaped basin of Al-Madinah. The Al-Madinah basin is part of a 400?×?150-km² Wadi Qanah–Al-Hamd watershed, which exhibits mainly parallel drainage pattern. Sub-basins, within the main basin, exhibit trellised and radial drainage patterns. The trellised drainage pattern reflects control of the Cenozoic faults, whereas the radial drainage pattern reflects volcanic-related system. Rotation of the Arabian Plate after several extensional events that lead to the opening of the Red Sea influenced the drainage flow to be going from east to west. This geological history that include eruption, normal faulting, and erosion prior to and during the Red Sea rifting formed relief inversion geomorphology of Tertiary basalts that cap Precambrian rocks of the Ayr and Jammah Mountains in western Al-Madinah. The groundwater in the central area is part of the northern Harrat Rahat basaltic aquifer in which the groundwater level rises up in the central area due to the blocking of groundwater flow by constructions below the central area and due to reduced groundwater abstraction. Building a dam 60 km northwest of Al-Madinah would preserve more surface water than the Al-Bayda dam, in which all main valleys join in at the suggested location.     

Evolution and strike variability of early post-rift deep-marine depositional systems: Lower to Mid-Cretaceous, North Viking Graben, Norwegian North Sea

The controls and development of early-post-rift, deep-water depositional systems are poorly understood due to their commonly deeply-buried nature. As a consequence, in the subsurface there is usually a lack of well penetrations and/or weak seismic imaging. At outcrop, early post-rift strata have commonly been deformed beyond reasonable recognition by later inversion tectonics. In contrast to these systems, the North Viking Graben shows a well-imaged Cretaceous early post-rift package with good well control and little effect from inversion. Therefore, this paper examines the early post-rift, deep-water depositional systems of the North Viking Graben to determine the controls on their stratigraphic position, geometry and evolution, and thus provide an analogue for comparable systems. Greater understanding of such systems will allow for the enhanced prediction of reservoir units in the subsurface and development of new play models since post-rift intervals are generally under-explored.The basin configuration inherited by the Cretaceous early post-rift in the northern North Sea was set up by Permo-Triassic and Late Jurassic rifting. In the North Viking Graben this established considerable along-strike variability, resulting in a northern basin segment surrounded by steep slopes and faulted-bounded structural highs and a southern basin segment margined by slopes with noticeably gentler gradients. Associated with the Cretaceous post-rift is an overall transgressional trend, which drowned local source areas, resulting in prevalent carbonate and hemipelagic mudstone deposition in the basins. In the North Viking Graben, the uplifted Oseberg fault-block provided the sub-aerial clastic source area until it was submerged in the early Upper Cretaceous.The early post-rift infill of the North Viking Graben was divided into four key seismic stratigraphic units (K1, K2, K3 and K4) using an integration of seismic and well data. Inside this stratigraphic framework, the depositional systems within each K-unit were resolved from characteristic seismic facies, amplitude anomalies, relationship with adjacent reflections, and geomorphologies. In the northern basin segment, the early post-rift stratigraphy contains basin-floor fans, a channel complex and a shoreline-like geometry, whereas the southern basin segment is solely characterised by hemipelagic and carbonate deposition. This spatial variability indicates that one of the dominant controls on the development of the early post-rift depositional systems in the North Viking Graben was the inherited syn-rift fault-controlled topography. The steep slopes bounding the northern basin segment aided the delivery of sediment from the sub-aerial Oseberg source area to the graben whereas the submerged, gentle slopes in the southern basin segment were relatively sediment-starved.Long- and short-term changes in relative sea-level also heavily influenced the evolution of the early post-rift basin stratigraphy. Short-term relative sea-level fall allowed basin-floor fan emplacement whereas short-term relative sea-level stand-still favoured deposition of a channel complex. Deposition of the shoreface-like geometry is associated with a short-term relative sea-level rise. This temporal difference in the style and scale of the depositional systems is also interpreted to reflect the gradual denudation and drowning of the Oseberg source area. Regional short-term trangressive and anoxic events in the northern North Sea further influenced the early post-rift strata, resulting in the deposition of stratigraphic units that can be correlated across the North Sea.     

Tectono-stratigraphic modelling of the North Sicily continental margin (southern Tyrrhenian Sea)

A two-dimensional numerical modelling that simulate the kinematic and thermal response of the lithosphere to thinning was used for the quantitative reconstruction of the late Neogene to Recent times tectonic and stratigraphic evolution of the North Sicily continental margin (southern Tyrrhenian Sea). The numerical study of the evolution of the North Sicily margin builds on the crustal image and kinematic interpretation of the margin obtained by Pepe et al. [Tectonics 19 (2000) 241] on the basis of seismic data and gravity modelling. Tectonic modeling indicate that different segments of the margin were undergoing different vertical movements, which are mainly expression of the rifting and thinning of the lithosphere occurred during tectonic evolution of the southern Tyrrhenian Sea. A prediction of the pre-rift basement topography and the Moho along the margin converges to a value of 6.5 km for the depth of necking and a temperature-dependent EET (500° isotherm). The model fails to reproduce the morphology of the Solunto High confirming its non-extensional origin. A polyphase evolution is required to reproduce the observed syn- and post-rift stratigraphy. During the first rifting stage (between 9 and 5 Ma), crustal thinning factors reach maximum values of 1.27 in the Cefalù basin. A similar value is predicted for the subcrustal thinning around 60 km NNE of the profile margin. Crustal thinning factors increase during the second rifting stage (from 4 to 2 Ma) and reach values of 2 and up to 3.5 in the Cefalù basin and in the continent–oceanic transition zone, respectively. Similarly, subcrustal lithospheric thinning factors reach values up to 2.5 in the distal sector of the margin. An uplift of more than 100 m is predicted for the North Sicily shelf and surrounding onshore areas during the post-rift stage. The evolution of thermal structure with time is very sensitive to the partial thinning factors describing the evolution of the thinning itself during time. The lithosphere preserved part of its strength during extension. The effective elastic thickness (EET) along the margin through time is 24 km at the onset of rifting and reaches values less to 8 km during the second rifting stage in the northeastern end of the margin.     

Tectonic Evolution of the Wanan Basin,Southwestern South China Sea

Quantitative studies on the extension and subsidence of the Wanan Basin were carried out based on available seismic and borehole data together with regional geological data.Using balanced cross-section and backstripping techniques,we reconstructed the stratigraphic deposition and tectonic evolution histories of the basin.The basin formed from the Eocene and was generally in an extensional/transtensional state except for the Late Miocene local compressoin.The major basin extension ocurred in the Oligocene and Early Miocene(before ~16.3 Ma) and thereafter uniform stretch in a smaller rate.The northern and middle basin extended intensely earlier during 38.6–23.3 Ma,while the southern basin was mainly stretched during 23.3–16.3 Ma.The basin formation and development are related to alternating sinistral to dextral strike-slip motions along the Wanan Fault Zone.The dominant dynamics may be caused by the seafloor spreading of the South China Sea and the its peripheral plate interaction.The basin tectonic evolution is divided into five phases:initial rifting,main rifting,rift-drift transition,structural inversion,and thermal subsidence.     

南海西南次海盆构造特征及其沉积响应

本文对穿过南海西南次海盆的逾1000 km的多道地震测线CFT剖面进行了地震界面特征的识别和地震层序的划分,分段分析了拆离断层对其减薄陆壳的拆离作用。结合前人研究成果,对南海西南次海盆地壳结构特征开展了分析,并总结了其构造特征。西南次海盆在发生陆缘张裂—海盆扩张、洋壳出现—扩张后稳定沉积这一系列过程中,可划分为4个阶段的沉积响应：A阶段(古新世之前)——前裂谷阶段,表现为地壳在拉张应力下产生小的断层;B阶段（始新世—早渐新世）——陆缘的裂谷阶段,地壳在拉张应力下拉张减薄,A阶段产生的断层出现了旋转,出现了大型掀斜的拆离断层,沉积物为同裂谷沉积,该阶段以产生了破裂不整合结束;C阶段（晚渐新世—早中新世）——海盆扩张阶段,海盆开始扩张,张应力从陆缘转移到了洋盆;D阶段（中中新世以来）——海盆扩张结束以后,以一套稳定沉积为特征。     

Tectonic evolution of the southern margin of Laurasia in the Black Sea region

The Black Sea region comprises Gondwana-derived continental blocks and oceanic subduction complexes accreted to Laurasia. The core of Laurasia is made up of an Archaean–Palaeoproterozoic shield, whereas the Gondwana-derived blocks are characterized by a Neoproterozoic basement. In the early Palaeozoic, a Pontide terrane collided and amalgamated to the core of Laurasia, as part of the Avalonia–Laurasia collision. From the Silurian to Carboniferous, the southern margin of Laurasia was a passive margin. In the late Carboniferous, a magmatic arc, represented by part of the Pontides and the Caucasus, collided with this passive margin with the Carboniferous eclogites marking the zone of collision. This Variscan orogeny was followed by uplift and erosion during the Permian and subsequently by Early Triassic rifting. Northward subduction under Laurussia during the Late Triassic resulted in the accretion of an oceanic plateau, whose remnants are preserved in the Pontides and include Upper Triassic eclogites. The Cimmeride orogeny ended in the Early Jurassic, and in the Middle Jurassic the subduction jumped south of the accreted complexes, and a magmatic arc was established along the southern margin of Laurasia. There is little evidence for subduction during the latest Jurassic–Early Cretaceous in the eastern part of the Black Sea region, which was an area of carbonate sedimentation. In contrast, in the Balkans there was continental collision during this period. Subduction erosion in the Early Cretaceous removed a large crustal slice south of the Jurassic magmatic arc. Subduction in the second half of the Early Cretaceous is evidenced by eclogites and blueschists in the Central Pontides and by a now buried magmatic arc. A continuous extensional arc was established only in the Late Cretaceous, coeval with the opening of the Black Sea as a back-arc basin.     

南海北部新生代盆地断裂系统及构造动力学影响因素

利用地震资料、油气勘探资料分析了南海北部大陆边缘珠江口-琼东南新生代盆地断裂系统的时空差异及动力学成因机制.珠江口-琼东南盆地古近系裂陷构造层以NE向、近EW向基底正断层构成的伸展断裂系统的几何学、运动学沿着盆地走向有明显变化,盆地内部隐伏的区域性和局部的NW向断裂及相关构造变形带构成伸展断裂系统之间的构造变换带.在空间上,区域性的云开、松涛-松南等NW向构造变换带以西为NE-NEE向正断层构成的"非拆离"伸展断层系,以东为NE向正断层、近EW向正断层(走滑正断层)复合而成的拆离伸展断层系.在时间上,古近纪裂陷作用可划分为早(文昌组沉积期)、中(恩平组/崖城组沉积期)、晚(珠海组/陵水组沉积期)3个有明显差异的裂陷期.裂陷早期,盆地西部以平面式正断层控制的简单地堑、半地堑为主,伸展量相对较小,东部则以铲式正断层控制的复式地堑、半地堑为主,伸展量相对大,断层向深部收敛在中地壳韧性层构成拆离的伸展断层系统.裂陷中期,琼东南盆地、珠江口盆地西部断裂具有继承性活动特点,珠江口盆地东部发育NWW-EW向伸展断层,并向深层切割早期浅层拆离断层,形成深层拆离伸展断层系统,而沿着云开构造变换带发育反转构造.裂陷晚期,琼东南盆地、珠江口盆地西部断裂具有活动性减弱特点,琼东南盆地东部发育NWW-EW向伸展断层,形成深层拆离伸展断层系统,而沿着琼中央构造变换带发育反转、走滑构造.珠江口-琼东南盆地不同区段断裂系统及其构造演化的差异性受盆地基底先存构造、地壳及岩石圈结构及伸展量等多方面因素的影响,拆离伸展断层系统与发育NWW向"贯穿"断裂的基底构造薄弱带、现今地壳局部减薄带相关,南海扩展由东而西的迁移诱导北部大陆边缘块体沿着先存NW向深大断裂发生走滑旋转是导致变换构造带两侧差异伸展的动力学原因,应力场及岩石圈热结构变化是引起拆离断层深度变化的重要因素.     

Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic rifting and its dynamic setting in Eastern China and adjacent areas

During the Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic, extension was widespread in Eastern China and adjacent areas. The first rifting stage spanned in the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous times and covered an area of more than 2 million km² of NE Asia from the Lake Baikal to the Sikhot-Alin in EW direction and from the Mongol–Okhotsk fold belt to North China in NS direction. This rifting was characterized by intracontinental rifts, volcanic eruptions and transform extension along large-scale strike–slip faults. Based on the magmatic activity, filling sequence of basins, tectonic framework and subsidence analysis of basins, the evolution of this area can be divided into three main developmental phases. The first phase, calc-alkaline volcanics erupted intensely along NNE-trending faults, forming Daxing'anling volcanic belt, NE China. The second phase, Basin and Range type fault basin system bearing coal and oil developed in NE Asia. During the third phase, which was marked by the change from synrifting to thermal subsidence, very thick postrift deposits developed in the Songliao basin (the largest oil basin in NE China).Following uplift and denudation, caused by compressional tectonism in the near end of Cretaceous, a Paleogene rifting stage produced widespread continental rift systems and continental margin basins in Eastern China. These rifted basins were usually filled with several kilometers of alluvial and lacustrine deposits and contain a large amount of fossil fuel resources. Integrated research in most of these rifting basins has shown that the basins are characterized by rapid subsidence, relative high paleo-geothermal history and thinned crust. It is now accepted that the formation of most of these basins was related to a lithospheric extensional regime or dextral transtensional regime. During Neogene time, early Tertiary basins in Eastern China entered a postrifting phase, forming regional downwarping. Basin fills formed in a thermal subsidence period onlapped the fault basin margins and were deposited in a broad downwarped lacustrine depression. At the same time, within plate rifting of the Lake Baikal and Shanxi graben climaxed and spreading of the Japan Sea and South China Sea occurred. Quaternary rifting was marked by basalt eruption and accelerated subsidence in the area of Tertiary rifting. The Okinawa Trough is an active rift involving back-arc extension.Continental rifting and marginal sea opening were clearly developed in various kind of tectonic settings. Three rifting styles, intracontinental rifting within fold belt, intracontinental rifting within craton and continental marginal rifting and spreading, are distinguished on the basis of nature of the basin basement, tectonic location of rifting and relations to large strike–slip faults.Changes of convergence rates of India–Eurasia and Pacific–Eurasia may have caused NW–SE-trending extensional stress field dominating the rifting. Asthenospheric upwelling may have well assisted the rifting process. In this paper, a combination model of interactions between plates and deep process of lithosphere has been proposed to explain the rifting process in East China and adjacent areas.The research on the Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic extensional tectonics of East China and adjacent areas is important because of its utility as an indicator of the dynamic setting and deformational mechanisms involved in stretching Lithosphere. The research also benefits the exploration and development of mineral and energy resources in this area.     

Geothermal structure of the eastern Pontides orogenic belt： Implications oceanic lithosphere Black Sea basin and the eastern for subduction polarity of Tethys

The numerical results of thermal modeling studies indicate that the lithosphere is cold and strong beneath the Black Sea basin.The thermal lithospheric thickness increases southward from the eastern Pontides orogenic belt（49.4 km） to Black Sea basin（152.2 km）.The Moho temperature increases from 367℃in the trench to 978℃in the arc region.The heat flow values for the Moho surface change between 16.4 mW m^-2 in the Black Sea basin and 56.9 mW m^-2 in the eastern Pontides orogenic belt. Along the southern Black Sea coast,the trench region has a relatively low geothermal potential with respect to the arc and back-arc region.The numerical studies support the existence of southward subduction beneath the Pontides during the late Mesozoic-Cenozoic.     

珠江口盆地珠一坳陷新生代盆地结构与成因演化

运用丰富的三维地震资料,在断裂体系的静态描述基础上,通过断层活动速率计算和平衡剖面分析,并结合残留地 层展布特征,恢复了新生代盆地垂向演化与叠合过程,探讨盆地发育与转型的动力学机制。珠一坳陷新生代经历了裂陷早 期、裂陷晚期、裂后拗陷和构造活动期四大演化阶段。裂陷期（E2w-E2e）,印支地块旋转挤出和古南海俯冲,区域拉张应 力场由NW 向顺时针转变为近SN 向,导致了裂陷早期NE、NEE 向断裂控盆向裂陷晚期近EW 向、NWW 向断裂控盆转变, 岩石圈伸展作用由宽裂谷方式向窄裂谷方式转变,导致盆地格局由彼此孤立的半地堑或窄地堑系趋于相互扩展连通;裂后 拗陷期（E3z-N1z-N1h）,岩石圈伸展中心迁移至南海扩张中心,南海北部地区整体处于裂后热沉降阶段,构造活动微弱;构 造活化期（N1y-N2w-Q）,菲律宾海板块NWW 向仰冲-碰撞联合作用下产生NNE 向拉张,同时派生近EW 向和NW 向的共 轭剪切作用,导致了先存NWW 向和近EW 断裂的活化,以及隆起区NWW 向张性断裂和近EW 向、NW 向走滑断裂带的形 成。该研究所揭示的盆地发育演化过程不仅对该区油气勘探提供指导,也对被动大陆边缘演化的研究有着一定的借鉴意义。     

Plate tectonic evolution of the southern margin of Eurasia in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic

Thirteen time interval maps were constructed, which depict the Triassic to Neogene plate tectonic configuration, paleogeography and general lithofacies of the southern margin of Eurasia. The aim of this paper is to provide an outline of the geodynamic evolution and position of the major tectonic elements of the area within a global framework. The Hercynian Orogeny was completed by the collision of Gondwana and Laurussia, whereas the Tethys Ocean formed the embayment between the Eurasian and Gondwanian branches of Pangea. During Late Triassic–Early Jurassic times, several microplates were sutured to the Eurasian margin, closing the Paleotethys Ocean. A Jurassic–Cretaceous north-dipping subduction boundary was developed along this new continental margin south of the Pontides, Transcaucasus and Iranian plates. The subduction zone trench-pulling effect caused rifting, creating the back-arc basin of the Greater Caucasus–proto South Caspian Sea, which achieved its maximum width during the Late Cretaceous. In the western Tethys, separation of Eurasia from Gondwana resulted in the formation of the Ligurian–Penninic–Pieniny–Magura Ocean (Alpine Tethys) as an extension of Middle Atlantic system and a part of the Pangean breakup tectonic system. During Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous times, the Outer Carpathian rift developed. The opening of the western Black Sea occurred by rifting and drifting of the western–central Pontides away from the Moesian and Scythian platforms of Eurasia during the Early Cretaceous–Cenomanian. The latest Cretaceous–Paleogene was the time of the closure of the Ligurian–Pieniny Ocean. Adria–Alcapa terranes continued their northward movement during Eocene–Early Miocene times. Their oblique collision with the North European plate led to the development of the accretionary wedge of the Outer Carpathians and its foreland basin. The formation of the West Carpathian thrusts was completed by the Miocene. The thrust front was still propagating eastwards in the eastern Carpathians.During the Late Cretaceous, the Lesser Caucasus, Sanandaj–Sirjan and Makran plates were sutured to the Iranian–Afghanistan plates in the Caucasus–Caspian Sea area. A north-dipping subduction zone jumped during Paleogene to the Scythian–Turan Platform. The Shatski terrane moved northward, closing the Greater Caucasus Basin and opening the eastern Black Sea. The South Caspian underwent reorganization during Oligocene–Neogene times. The southwestern part of the South Caspian Basin was reopened, while the northwestern part was gradually reduced in size. The collision of India and the Lut plate with Eurasia caused the deformation of Central Asia and created a system of NW–SE wrench faults. The remnants of Jurassic–Cretaceous back-arc systems, oceanic and attenuated crust, as well as Tertiary oceanic and attenuated crust were locked between adjacent continental plates and orogenic systems.     

Petroleum System in Deepwater Basins of the Northern South China Sea

The northern South China Sea margin has experienced a rifting stage and a post-rifting stage during the Cenozoic.In the rifting stage,the margin received lacustrine and shallow marine facies sediments.In the post-rifting thermal subsidence,the margin accumulated shallow marine facies and hemipelagic deposits,and the decpwater basins formed.Petroleum systems of deepwater setting have been imaged from seismic data and drill wells.Two kinds of source rocks including Paleogene lacustrine black shale and Oligocene-Early Miocene mudstone were developed in the deepwater basin of the South China Sea.The deepwater reservoirs are characterized by the deep sea channel fill,mass flow complexes and drowned reef carbonate platform.Profitable capping rocks on the top are mudstoues with huge thickness in the post-rifting stage.Meanwhile,the faults developed during the rifting stage provide a migration path favournble for the formation of reservoirs.The analysis of seismic and drilling data suggests that the joint structural and stratigraphic traps could form giant hydrocarbon fields and hydrocarbon reservoirs including syn-rifting graben subaqueous delta,decpwater submarine fan sandstone and reef carbonate reservoirs.