Post-spreading transpressive faults in the South China Sea Basin

The South China Sea was formed by seafloor spreading during the late Oligocene to the mid-Miocene. After the cessation of spreading, compression due to the northwestward-moving Taiwan–Luzon Arc and strike–slip motion have been occurring on the South China Sea's eastern and west margins, respectively. However due to limited survey coverage, little is known about the tectonics in the oceanic basin of the South China Sea. Satellite altimetry-derived bathymetric data in a 2′ × 2′ grid shows not only a young seamount chain along the E–W-trending spreading axis of the South China Sea Basin, but also three previously unmapped NW- to NNW-trending segmented linear features. These features are topographic highs, rising 300–600 m above the surrounding sea floor, 10–30 km wide and 300–500 km long. Bathymetric and seismic reflection data reveal that they are strike–slip fault zones, in which folds of various amplitude and patterns have developed. These basin-wide transpressive fault zones, and the young volcanism, may be the result of ongoing NNW convergence of the Taiwan–Luzon Arc following the cessation of seafloor spreading in the South China Sea. The NNW-trending strike–slip fault at longitude 116°E is considered to be the boundary between the Eastern Subbasin and the SW Subbasin.