南海南部南安盆地新生代以来构造-沉积演化特征及区域成藏模式

南安盆地是南海南部重要的大型含油气盆地之一,深入分析其构造-沉积演化特征对盆地油气勘探具有重要的指导作用。结合已有研究成果,开展盆地二维地震资料解释,识别出南安盆地新生代以来5个主要的二级层序界面和4套地震层序。在层序地层格架下,根据地震反射特征识别出南安盆地楔形、S型（丘状）等5类地震相类型;砂包泥岩、砂泥岩互层等7类地震岩相类型以及扇三角洲、河流三角洲等8类主要沉积相。综合盆地构造演化特征,南安盆地新生代以来主要分为4个阶段：初始裂陷阶段、主裂陷阶段、断拗转换阶段和拗陷热沉降阶段。其中,中中新世以前为盆地裂陷阶段,发育陆源碎屑沉积,早期为湖相沉积,晚期为滨浅海相沉积;中中新世以后为拗陷阶段,发育陆源碎屑沉积和碳酸盐岩沉积。通过油气成藏模式研究,南安盆地烃源岩发育且品质较好,有利储集相带纵向厚度大且横向范围广,区域盖层覆盖整个盆地,并形成了早期的自生自储和晚期的下生上储两类油气成藏系统。     

南海北部西沙海槽盆地新生代层序地层及地震相

西沙海槽盆地是南海北部陆坡西段的一个勘探程度较低的大型新生代深水沉积盆地。基于新采集的高精度多道地震资料并结合周边地区地质特征对盆地进行了层序地层分析,在研究区内识别出8个地震反射界面,结合地震剖面振幅旋回性变化,将研究区新生代地层划分了3个超层序和8个层序,并进一步论述了各层序的顶底接触关系、地震反射特征、地层厚度、层速度及砂岩含量等。在层序格架内识别出5类典型的地震相:平行-亚平行相、楔状发散相、前积相、杂乱相及水道充填相。在地震相划分和沉积相分析的基础上,通过对各层序沉积特征和沉积发育史的分析,认为始新世研究区呈现出陆相湖盆沉积体系特征;渐新世,盆地遭受海侵,研究区接受滨海相和浅海相沉积;早中新世,盆地中部沉积大规模半深海相沉积;中中新世末海平面出现下降,陆坡半深海环境的范围有所减小,西沙海槽浊积水道的雏形形成;晚中新世之后,研究区进入稳定的区域沉降阶段,主要发育了一套半深海-深海相泥岩沉积。此外,由研究区南北缘隆起区提供物源在层序内部还发育有近岸水下扇、三角洲、扇三角洲等沉积体,由地形高差控制作用在陡坡带或断层下降盘还形成了斜坡扇、浊积体。     

南海琼东南盆地新生代构造层序研究

基于南海琼东南盆地到目前为止还没有一个统一的构造层序划分方案的问题,在前人研究工作基础上,通过大量的二维地震构造层序闭合解释,从地震不整合面和构造发育特征识别出发,对新生代主要构造层序进行详细解剖。进一步结合对南海北部琼东南盆地新生代二维地震数据的精细综合分析,重新厘定了其新生代构造层序,并进行了构造层序的识别和划分。结果表明：按古构造运动面可将盆地充填序列划分为上、中、下三个构造层序,分别对应于盆地演化的三个阶段性。着重论述了三个构造层序的结构特征、叠加构造样式、构造层序发育特征、层序分布特征、沉积体系类型和盆地断裂演化序列之间的关系等,以期为今后的研究奠定基础。     

南黄海盆地中部隆起的形成与演化

南黄海盆地是在前震旦系克拉通基础上发育的中、古生界海相与中、新生界陆相多旋回叠合盆地。通过地震资料解释,结合邻区钻井与区域地质资料,对南黄海盆地中部隆起中、古生代地层及其形成演化进行了研究,结果表明,南黄海盆地中部隆起沉积了较全的中、古生界海相地层,发育第四系—新近系、中—下三叠统青龙组、上二叠统、下二叠统—上泥盆统、中—下志留统,奥陶系—震旦系和前震旦系变质岩系等7套地震地质层序;主要经历了前震旦纪基底形成、震旦纪—早古生代克拉通发育、晚古生代—中三叠世稳定台地—陆内裂陷、晚三叠世—古近纪形成与抬升剥蚀及新近纪-第四纪坳陷沉降5个阶段。     

Evolution of deep-water stratigraphic architecture, Magallanes Basin, Chile

The ˜4000 m thick and ∼20 Myr deep-water sedimentary fill of the Upper Cretaceous Magallanes Basin was deposited in three major phases, each with contrasting stratigraphic architecture: (1) the oldest deep-water formation (Punta Barrosa Formation) comprises tabular to slightly lenticular packages of interbedded sandy turbidites, slurry-flow deposits, and siltstone that are interpreted to record lobe deposition in an unconfined to weakly ponded setting; (2) the overlying, 2500 m thick and shale-dominated Cerro Toro Formation includes a succession of stacked conglomeratic and sandstone channel-fill deposits with associated finer-grained overbank deposits interpreted to record deposition in a foredeep-axial channel-levee system; (3) the final phase of deep-water sedimentation is characterized by sandstone-rich successions of highly variable thickness and cross-sectional geometry and mudstone-rich mass transport deposits (MTDs) that are interpreted to record deposition at the base-of-slope and lower slope segments of a prograding delta-fed slope system. The deep-water formations are capped by shallow-marine and deltaic deposits of the Dorotea Formation.These architectural changes are associated with the combined influences of tectonically driven changes and intrinsic evolution, including: (1) the variability of amount and type of source material, (2) variations in basin shape through time, and (3) evolution of the fill as a function of prograding systems filling the deep-water accommodation. While the expression of these controls in the stratigraphic architecture of other deep-water successions might differ in detail, the controls themselves are common to all deep-water basins. Information about source material and basin shape is contained within the detrital record and, when integrated and analyzed within the context of stratigraphic patterns, attains a more robust linkage of processes to products than stratigraphic characterization alone.     

琼东南盆地中央峡谷上新统块体搬运沉积体系地震特征及其分布

根据琼东南盆地深水区高分辨率2D/3D地震资料精细解释,和基于三维地震资料的相干分析,在琼东南盆地中央峡谷区发现了多期次的块体搬运沉积体系(MTDs)。研究表明,该区域块体搬运沉积体系包括3个主要的结构单元,即头部拉张区、体部滑移区和趾部挤压区,不同位置地震特征不同。大规模的块体搬运沉积体系构成了琼东南盆地中央峡谷区新近系以来地层中的重要沉积单元,并对深海沉积物的空间展布有重要的控制作用。上新世发育的一期块体搬运沉积体系,分布面积达300 km2,厚度达240 m,平面展布形态似扇形。高沉积物供给速率和不断的构造活动可能是该区域MTDs发育的主要原因。此外,地震活动、海平面变化也间接影响了MTDs的发育。     

南沙海区万安盆地构造演化与成因机制

本文基于地震、钻井和区域地质资料,运用回剥法和平衡剖面技术定量研究了万安盆地的构造沉降和伸展程度,重建盆地的构造演化史并探讨其成因机制。模拟结果表明,万安盆地构造沉降曲线为多段式,其南北部构造沉降差异明显,且沉降中心逐渐向南发展的趋势。晚始新世-渐新世（37.8~23.03 Ma BP）盆地中、北部快速沉降,存在两个沉降中心;早中新世（23.03~16.0 Ma BP）盆地南部也发生快速沉降,整个盆地存在3个沉降中心;中中新世（约16.0~11.63 Ma BP）沉降作用减弱,盆地进入裂后热沉降期。万安盆地的伸展和形成演化呈现北早南晚的特征,与南海海底扩张密切相关,同时受控于万安断裂带交替地右旋-左旋走滑作用,是伸展和走滑双重作用的结果。盆地的构造演化过程可细分为4个阶段:初始裂谷期、主要裂谷期、走滑改造期和裂后加速沉降期。     

渤中凹陷古近纪控盆断裂的活动速率与沉积响应

渤中凹陷是整个渤海湾盆地的沉积和沉降中心,古近纪时期被石臼坨凸起、沙垒田凸起、渤南低凸起、渤东低凸起所环绕。凸起与凹陷之间因控盆断裂发育程度及活动速率的差异,形成复杂的构造带与沉积体系。在地震精细解释基础上,计算主要边界断裂在不同时期的活动速率,并与相应时期平面沉积体系的展布特征相对比。结果表明,渤中地区古近纪的控盆断裂活动速率峰值出现在沙三段和东三段沉积时期,凹陷处于强烈断陷期,且因平面上不同位置断裂活动强度的差异,凹陷在空间上并非呈简单的"平底锅"形态。盆缘碎屑沉积体系类型明显受控于断裂内侧的基底沉降速率,并随活动速率的大小变化而发生退积或进积。与环渤海湾陆上油田所处各凹陷古近纪的构造沉积演化相比,在东三段沉积期发生的最强烈断陷和在东二上-东一段沉积期发生断坳转换以后,成为整个渤海湾盆地远源三角洲的进积中心,是渤中凹陷古近纪构造沉积演化方面最突出的特征。     

Investigation of Fethiye-Marmaris Bay (SW Anatolia): seismic and morphologic evidences from the missing link between the Pliny Trench and the Fethiye-Burdur Fault Zone

New (2009) multi-beam bathymetric and previously published seismic reflection data from the NE-SW-oriented Fethiye Bay and the neighboring N-S-oriented Marmaris Bay off SW Anatolia were evaluated in order to interpret the seafloor morphology in terms of the currently still active regional tectonic setting. This area lies between the Pliny Trench, which constitutes the eastern sector of the subduction zone between the African and Eurasian plates in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Fethiye-Burdur Fault Zone of the Anatolian Plate. The bathymetric data document the very narrow shelf of the Anatolian coast, a submarine plain between the island of Rhodes and Marmaris Bay, and a large canyon connecting the abyssal floor of the Rhodes Basin with Fethiye Bay. The latter are here referred to as the Marmaris Plain and Fethiye Canyon, respectively. Several active and inactive faults have been identified. Inactive faults (faults f1) delineate a buried basin beneath the Marmaris Plain, here referred to as the Marmaris Basin. Other faults that affect all stratigraphic units are interpreted as being active. Of these, the NE-SW-oriented Marmaris Fault Zone located on the Marmaris Plain is interpreted as a transtensional fault zone in the seismic and bathymetric data. The transtensional character of this fault zone and associated normal faults (faults f3) on the Marmaris Plain correlates well with the Fethiye-Burdur Fault Zone on land. Another important fault zone (f4) occurs along the Fethiye Canyon, forming the northeastern extension of the Pliny Trench. The transpressional character of faults f4 inferred from the seismic data is well correlated with the compressional structures along the Pliny Trench in the Rhodes Basin and its vicinity. These observations suggest that the Marmaris Fault Zone and faults f3 have evolved independently of faults f4. The evidence for this missing link between the Pliny Trench and the Fethiye-Burdur Fault Zone implies possible kinematic problems in this tectonic zone that deserve further detailed studies. Notably, several active channels and submarine landslides interpreted as having been triggered by ongoing faulting attest to substantial present-day sediment transport from the coast into the Rhodes Basin.     

Sequence stratigraphy and importance of syndepositional structural slope-break for architecture of Paleogene syn-rift lacustrine strata,Bohai Bay Basin,E. China

Sequence stratigraphy and syndepositional structural slope-break zones define the architecture of the Paleogene syn-rift, lacustrine succession in eastern China's Bohai Bay Basin. Jiyang, Huanghua and Liaohe subbasins are of particular interest and were our primary research objectives. Interpretation of 3D seismic data, well logs and cores reveals: One first-order sequence, 4 second-order sequences, and ten to thirteen third-order sequences were identified on the basis of the tectonic evolution, lithologic assemblage and unconformities in the subbasins of Bohai Bay Basin. Three types of syndepositional paleo-structure styles are recognized in this basin. They are identified as fault controlled, slope-break zone; flexure controlled, slope-break zone; and gentle slope.The three active structural styles affect the sequence stratigraphy. Distinct third-order sequences, within second-order sequences, have variable systems tract architecture due to structuring effects during tectonic episodes. Second-order sequences 1 and 2 were formed during rifting episodes 1 and 2. The development of the third-order sequences within these 2 second-order sequences was controlled by the active NW and NE oriented fault controlled, slope-break zones. Second-order sequence 3 formed during rifting episode 3, the most intense extensional faulting of the basin. Two types of distinctive lacustrine depositional sequence were formed during rifting episode 3: one was developed in an active fault controlled, slope-break zone, the other in an active flexure controlled, slope-break zone. Second-order sequence 4 was formed during the fourth episode of rifting. Syndepositional, fault- and flexure-controlled slope-break zones developed in the subsidence center (shore to offshore areas) of the basin and controlled the architecture of third-order sequences in a way similar to that in second-order sequence 3. Sequences in the gentle slope and syndepositional, flexure controlled slope-break zones were developed in subaerial region.Distribution of lowstand sandbodies was controlled primarily by active structuring on the slope-break zones, and these sandbodies were deposited downdip of the slope-break zones. Sand bodies within lowstand systems tracts have good reservoir quality, and are usually sealed by the shale sediments of the subsequent transgressive systems tract. They are favorable plays for stratigraphic trap exploration.     

Tectonostratigraphic evolution of the northern Porcupine Basin,Irish Atlantic margin,during the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous,implication for a regional compressional event

The conventional interpretation of the Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous succession in the Porcupine Basin suggests an extensional setting with progressive deepening of the basin. However, well data show a prominent gap of several million years between the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous. A data base of 15 key wells and approximately 5,000 km of seismic reflection data were examined in the northern Porcupine Basin, in order to understand the nature, controls and mechanisms of this unconformity. Seven seismic markers, constrained by well data, are mapped. It is shown that during the Late Jurassic (possibly the Oxfordian–Kimmeridgian), the basin experienced extension and synrift deposition. During the latest Jurassic–earliest Cretaceous (possibly the Tithonian–early Berriasian), a series of north-trending structural highs and lows developed and extensive areas in the northern Porcupine Basin experienced folding, uplift and erosion. Evidence from the study suggests that compression, uplift and erosion played an important role in the shaping of the depositional and structural architecture of the basin and caused formation of the regional Base Cretaceous Unconformity in the northern basin. It is suggested that the deformation in the northern Porcupine Basin during the latest Jurassic–earliest Cretaceous may be related to the initial closure of the Alpine Tethys during the late Tithonian. This tectonic event may also have resulted in compressional deformation and formation of the Base Cretaceous Unconformity elsewhere in Western Europe.     

Mixed carbonate-siliciclastic infilling of a Neogene carbonate shelf-valley system: Tampa Bay, West-Central Florida

The shelf-valley system underlying Tampa Bay, Florida’s largest estuary, is situated in the middle of the Neogene carbonate Florida Platform. Compared to well-studied fluvially incised coastal plain valley systems, this shelf-valley system is unique in its karstic origin and its alternating carbonate-siliciclastic infill. A complex record of sea-level changes, paleo-fluvial variability and marine processes have controlled the timing and mechanisms of this ‘compound’ shelf-valley infill. A dense grid of high-resolution, single-channel seismic data were collected at the mouth of Tampa Bay, in an attempt to define this stratigraphy, determine the controls on deposition, and define the underlying structure of this shelf-valley system. The seismic data were correlated with nearby wells and boreholes for lithologic and age control. Sequence stratigraphic methods were incorporated in order to develop an integrated chronostratigraphy for the depositional infilling of the shelf-valley system. Five seismic sequences were identified. Sequence boundaries generally show erosional truncation and karstification, with downlap of overlying sequences. Structure contour and isopach maps indicate that the Tampa Bay shelf-valley system has remained in essentially the same location since its formation in the early Miocene, although the provenance of sedimentary infill has changed. This change is due to increasing amounts of siliciclastic material during the Neogene. Seismic facies interpretations indicate lower-energy, northward prograding deposition dominated by predominantly carbonate sediments within the lowest Sequence A. Higher energy, siliciclastic fluvio-deltaic deposition within sequences B and C originates to the east and northeast of the shelf-valley system related to a Pliocene pulse of sedimentation onto the Florida Platform. Finally, marine processes (longshore transport, ebb-tidal delta formation) dominate the upper two sequences (D and E), reworking these siliciclastic sediments into a spatially mixed carbonate-siliciclastic depositional setting.     

南黄海沉积层纵波速度与地震反射特征

南黄海为新生代、中生代与古生代叠合盆地,发育了新生代-中生代碎屑岩地层和早中生代-古生代海相碳酸盐岩地层,部分夹碎屑岩地层。在对测井资料和苏北盆地的相关资料归纳分析的基础上,总结了南黄海沉积层的纵波速度特征,标定了地震反射界面和地震反射层序。     

红河活动断裂带在南海西北部的反映

红河断裂带是一条走滑的活动断裂带，它控制着南海西北部的构造活动，也控制着莺歌海盆地的形成和演化。根据南海西北部中穿过莺歌海盆地的地震剖面和历史资料进行解释，结果表明，莺歌海盆地的形成可分3个阶段：自50MaB．P．开始，沿红河断裂带的左旋错动和在印支地块的顺时针旋转的应力作用下，形成了莺歌海盆地的雏形；24MaB．P．之后在左旋压扭应力场作用下，形成了盆地西北部的反转构造；5MaB．P．之后发生了右旋错动，盆地内快速沉降，发育巨厚沉积层。根据盆地内最老和最新的沉积中心之间的距离，推测沿红河断裂带的左旋位错约200km。该断裂带发展到现代，其活动性大为减弱，曾发生10次小于5级地震。     

Sequence stratigraphy of the Miocene section,southern Gulf of Mexico

This study focuses on the interpretation of stratigraphic sequences through the integration of biostratigraphic, well log and 3D seismic data. Sequence analysis is used to identify significant surfaces, systems tracts, and sequences for the Miocene succession.The depositional systems in this area are dominantly represented by submarine fans deposited on the slope and the basin floor. The main depositional elements that characterize these depositional settings are channel systems (channel-fills, channel-levee systems), frontal splays, frontal splay complexes, lobes of debrites and mass-transport complexes.Five genetic sequences were identified and eleven stratigraphic surfaces interpreted and correlated through the study area. The Oligocene-lower Miocene, lower Miocene and middle Miocene sequences were deposited in bathyal water depths, whereas the upper Miocene sequences (Tortonian and Messinian) were deposited in bathyal and outer neritic water depths. The bulk of the Miocene succession, from the older to younger deposits consists of mass-transport deposits (Oligocene-lower Miocene); mass transport deposits and turbidite deposits (lower Miocene); debrite deposits and turbidite deposits (middle Miocene); and debrite deposits, turbidite deposits and pelagic and hemipelagic sediments (upper Miocene). Cycles of sedimentation are delineated by regionally extensive maximum flooding surfaces within condensed sections of hemipelagic mudstone which represent starved basin floors. These condensed sections are markers for regional correlation, and the maximum flooding surfaces, which they include, are the key surfaces for the construction of the Miocene stratigraphic framework. The falling-stage system tract forms the bulk of the Miocene sequences. Individual sequence geometry and thickness were controlled largely by salt evacuation and large-scale sedimentation patterns. For the upper Miocene, the older sequence (Tortonian) includes sandy deposits, whereas the overlying younger sequence (Messinian) includes sandy facies at the base and muddy facies at the top; this trend reflects the change from slope to shelf settings.     

The Davie Fracture Zone and adjacent basins in the offshore Mozambique Margin – A new insights for the hydrocarbon potential

The interpretation of 2-D seismic reflection data provides a modern structural framework including hydrocarbon potential in the present-day stratigraphic and structural traps of both the Davie Fracture Zone and the adjacent Nacala and Angoche basins. Possible stratigraphic traps were identified in submarine fan and channel depositional environments during Cretaceous to Tertiary times. Structural traps are mostly defined within compressional structures formed by a variety of fault-related folds and rift grabens within the Jurassic and Cretaceous successions.The Nacala and Angoche basins form two depressions separated by the Davie compressional zone. This compressional structure is a prominent interior high running approximately north-south. An event of transpression and contraction characterizes the main tectonic setting commonly hosting several detached compressional structures along the western edge of the transform zone.Both basins are associated with the Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous rifting during the opening of the Mozambique Channel. The Angoche basin is proposed here to have formed by the earliest stage of break-up in mid-Jurassic time. The basin is bounded landward by the Angoche volcanic zone, a dyke swarm branch oriented N64degE forming part of the Karoo and Dronning Maud Land magmatism at c. 180 Ma.Subsequent rifting and break-up led to the drift of East Gondwana southwards along the dextral strike-slip Davie Fracture Zone. At about 150 Ma (Tithonian), East Gondwana appears to have rotated slightly clockwise about a pivot in the proximity of the Angoche basin leading to extension and rifting in the Rovuma basin to the north of the pivot point and compression west of the Davie Fracture Zone to the south. Consequently, the eastern boundary of the Angoche basin was compressed developing a typical growth wedge of massive thrust imbrication structures while extensional tectonics created several depressions and rift-grabens forming the Nacala and Quirimbas basins.Basin stratigraphy is interpreted along seismic reflection lines and correlated to the regional stratigraphic information and wells from the Zambezi Delta and Rovuma basins.     

Reef exploration in the East Sengkang Basin,Sulawesi, Indonesia

Reconnaissance seismic shot in 1971/72 showed a number of well defined seismic anomalies within the East Sengkang Basin which were interpreted as buried reefs. Subsequent fieldwork revealed that Upper Miocene reefs outcropped along the southern margin of the basin. A drilling programme in 1975 and 1976 proved the presence of shallow, gas-bearing, Upper Miocene reefs in the northern part of the basin. Seismic acquisition and drilling during 1981 confirmed the economic significance of these discoveries, with four separate accumulations containing about 750 × 10⁹ cubic feet of dry gas in place at an average depth of 700 m. Kampung Baru is the largest field and contains over half the total, both reservoir quality and gas deliverability are excellent. Deposition in the East Sengkang Basin probably started during the Early Miocene. A sequence of Lower Miocene mudstones and limestones unconformably overlies acoustic basement which consists of Eocene volcanics. During the tectonically active Middle Miocene, deposition was interrupted by two periods of deformation and erosion. Carbonate deposition became established in the Late Miocene with widespread development of platform limestones throughout the East Sengkang Basin. Thick pinnacle reef complexes developed in the areas where reef growth could keep pace with the relative rise in sea level. Most reef growth ceased at the end of the Miocene and subsequent renewed clastic sedimentation covered the irregular limestone surface. Late Pliocene regression culminated in the Holocene with erosion. The Walanae fault zone, part of a major regional sinistral strike-slip system, separates the East and West Sengkang Basins. Both normal and reverse faulting are inferred from seismic data and post Late Pliocene reverse faulting is seen in outcrop.     

前陆盆地——页岩气成藏的有利场所

对美国在采页岩气赋存场所的对比分析发现,页岩气主要分布在由阿巴拉契亚逆冲断裂带、沃希托(Ouachita) 逆冲断裂带、拉腊米逆冲断裂带所围的前陆盆地中。究其原因,前陆盆地下部地层通常为厚度较大的富含有机质的克拉通时期的沉积,它为页岩气的形成提供了充足的物质基础;而前陆盆地的上部地层通常受后期冲断褶皱的挤压,由此引发的构造热事件为下部烃源岩的成熟和页岩层天然裂缝的产生提供了热力学条件。鄂尔多斯西缘前陆盆地的上三叠统延长组为主要烃源岩,其中,西南部泥页岩具有厚度大、有机质丰富、成熟度高等特点,与福特沃斯前陆盆地Barnett页岩相似,因此,推测鄂西前陆盆地西南部为页岩气赋存的有利场所,具有较好的页岩气勘探前景。     

When did the Falklands rotate?

Similarities in the styles and relative timings of tectonic events in the Outeniqua Basin, South Africa and the North Falkland Basin suggest that basin formation in both regions may have preceded rotation of the Falklands microplate. Contrary to previous models for the break-up of Gondwana, which suggest Jurassic rotation, the data implies Valanginian rotation, contemporaneous with the first recorded motion on the Agulhas Falkland Fracture Zone and South Atlantic rifting. The data also suggests that the formation of the Falkland Plateau Basin may also be a Cretaceous event as opposed to the previously assumed Jurassic age. Such a model is consistent with new offshore seismic evidence while the inconclusive nature of the supportive evidence for Jurassic rotation does not exclude later rotation as a possibility.     

Tectono-sedimentary control on modern sand deposition on the forebulge of the Western Taiwan Foreland Basin

Whether the formation of the isolated sand body deposition in the forebulge area of a foreland basin system is structure- or deposition-controlled has puzzled geologists for decades, although sand body deposition is generally believed to be indicative of the position of the flexural forebulge in a foreland basin. The formation of a modern sand body in the forebulge area is thus examined by multi-scale geophysical observations based on combined reflection seismic profiles and compressed high-intensity radar pulse (CHIRP) profiles across the sand deposition along the forebulge of the Western Taiwan Foreland Basin (WTFB), which is a Late Miocene-present foreland basin in the overfilled stage. These profiles suggest that the accumulation of the sand deposits along the forebulge of the WTFB is not directly associated with forebulge faultings. The relief map of the forebulge deposit substratum shows a northwestward tilting slope, and the isopach of the forebulge sand body indicates that a large part of the sand body accumulated along the axis of the Taiwan Strait and the subdued forebulge of the WTFB. The difference between the prevailing directions of tidal currents between the Taiwan Strait and the East China Sea reflects the probable sedimentary influence of the cratonward migrating fold-thrust belt within a foreland shelf. We suggest that the formation and distribution of the sand deposits along the forebulge of the WTFB are generally controlled not only by the transverse downslope sedimentation but also longitudinal hydrodynamic processes at distal parts of the foreland basin. Our explanation provides a plausible tectono-sedimentary cause of the sand body deposition in the forebulge area in an overfilled foreland basin. The sedimentary dynamics of the sand body in the Taiwan Strait may be applicable for understanding the formation of isolated sand bodies in the distal part of the Cretaceous Western Interior Foreland Basin.