Abstract:

This paper makes a comparative analysis on the structural characteristics of the main Cenozoic sedimentary basins of the South China Sea, based on the regional jointed survey data and combined with geotectonic setting research.The study shows the structural features of the sedimentary basins crossed by the regional tieline are very different, and the disparities are concretely displayed in such aspects as geotectonic setting, gravity and magnetic field, basin basement, fault property, tectonic line trend and igneous rock, etc.. There are close relations between fault development and basin formation of the South China Sea. The northern South China Sea mainly displays N-E direction tension fractures and sedimentary basins under the control of the fractures; the western South China Sea mainly develops N-W direction and near S-N direction strike-slip faults and sedimentary basins under the control of the faults; the southern South China Sea is rather complicated, where tension, compression and shear faults exist but the N-E direction Nansha trough thrust fault and the Nansha Trough basin under the control of the thrust are the most representative; the eastern South China Sea refers to the central sea basin of the South China Sea here, in which fractures and submarine volcanoes control the Pliocene-Quaternary deposit

Key words: the South China Sea, nature of plate margin, sedimentary basin, structural characteristic