Geological Structure and Dynamics of the Yinggehai Active Rift Basin, South China Sea

Abstract

The Yinggehai Basin is a unique NNW-trending petroliferous basin in the northwestern South China Sea. This paper mainly utilized stratigraphic, tectonic and seismic data by characterizing the geological structures and conducting the geo-mechanical analysis to study the formation, evolution and dynamics of the Yinggehai Basin. The study indicates that the Ailaoshan-Truong Son extruded terrane is composed of multiple secondary extruded bodies. The Red River fault zone, located within the Qiangtang-Simao-Yinggehai mantle flow channel and basin zone, experienced transform-type sinistral strike-slip motion before the basin forming stage and formed a NW-trending extruded mantle uplift, which activated the Yinggehai basin. After experiencing the rift depression, fault depression, and fault subsidence, the basin eventually formed large-scale, thick sedimentation features with ideal hydrocarbon-forming conditions at the end of the Miocene. Later, the basin dynamically transformed and entered a period of tectonic superposition, reworking, and thermal subsidence. Superposition of the NNW thrust sinistral strike-slip fault zone on the northern Hanoi sub-basin complicated the basin structure. Since the Pliocene, the southern Yinggehai main basin has been transformed into an extensional dextral strike-slip environment that hosted numerous mud diapirs. The thin crust and high geothermal gradient provide favorable conditions for the large-scale accumulation of natural gas.

Keywords

Yinggehai Basin / Ailaoshan-Truong Son extruded terrane / mantle flow channel / active rift / geodynamics / natural gas

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