Nature and Distribution of the Deformation Front in the Luzon Arc-Chinese Continental Margin Collision Zone at Taiwan

Marine seismic reflection profiles from offshore SW Taiwan combined with onland geological data are used to investigate the distribution and nature of the deformation front west of Taiwan. Locations of the frontal structure west of Taiwan are generally connected in a linear fashion, although the alignment of frontal structures is offset by strike-slip faults. The deformation front begins from the northern Manila Trench near 21°N and continues northward along the course of the Penghu Submarine Canyon in a nearly N–S direction north of 21°N until it reaches the upper reaches of Penghu Canyon at about 22°15′N. The deformation front then changes direction sharply to the northeast. It connects to the Chungchou thrust fault or the Tainan anticline in the coastal plain and continues northwards along the outer Western Foothills to the northern coast of Taiwan near 25°N. Characteristics of structural style, strain regime, sedimentation and tectonics vary along the trend of the deformation front. Ramp anticlines, diapiric intrusion and incipient thrust faults are commonly associated with the deformation front. Variations in structural style along strike can be related to different stages of oblique collision in Taiwan. The deformation front (collision front) west of Taiwan can be considered as a boundary between contraction in the Taiwan orogen and extension west of the collision zone. The deformation front east of the Tainan Basin and its northward extension along the outer limit of the Western Foothills is the surface trace separating the foreland thrust belt from the nearby foredeep, not a boundary between the Chinese and Taiwan margins. The submarine deformation front off SW Taiwan is the surface trace separating the submerged Taiwan orogenic wedge from the Chinese passive continental margin, not a surface trace of the plate boundary between the Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates.