Heat flow in the southwestern Okinawa Trough

Lying to the southeast of the East China Sea continental shelf, the Okinawa Trough is believed to have been formed by crustal spreading behind the Ryukyu island arc. It has the highest mean heat flow among the Pacific marginal basins. The mean of 18 reliable measurements is3.34±2.75HFU. The next highest mean heat flow for a marginal basin is2.53±1.60HFU for the Fiji Plateau. The high mean value for the Okinawa Trough may be partially attributable to a sampling bias because most measurements were made in or near the well-sedimented central “rift” or graben. The reported values range from 0.36 to 10.49 HFU, with low values probably resulting from hydrothermal circulation in an area of large relief. The high heat flow suggests that the age of the Okinawa Trough may be as young as 2 Ma. Such an estimate is in gross agreement with the inferred Plio-Pleistocene age for the drifting in the Okinawa Trough. The opening of the Okinawa Trough may continue onto Taiwan but the relation between the opening of the trough and the occurrence of a nearby, onshore geothermal resource area remains unsolved.