Post-rift tectonic reactivation and its effect on deep-water deposits in the Qiongdongnan Basin, northwestern South China Sea

The post-rift evolution of extensional basins is traditionally thought to be dominated by thermal subsidence due to cessation of the major fault activity during the post-rift stage. The Qiongdongnan Basin, which is located in the northwestern continental margins of the South China Sea, has exhibited significant deviations from typical post-rift characteristics. In the basin, a distinct tectonic reactivation occurred since the Late Miocene (11.6 Ma). Three notable aspects of the observed tectonic reactivation during the post-rift stage include, (1) pre-existing fault reactivation, (2) multiple large-scale magmatic intrusions, and (3) rapid post-rift subsidence. During this period the basin infill significantly changed in depositional environments shifting rapidly from littoral-neritic to bathyal-abyssal environments since Late Miocene. The pre-existing fault activity along the No. 2 fault of the basin resulted in the formation of initial shelf breaks and led to the development of continental slope. In addition, the pre-existing faults along the Central Depression zone created a small sub-basin with distinctive axial negative topography characteristics formed between structural highs. These geomorphological changes led to the formation of the Central Canyon. Large-scale magmatic intrusions occurred along the fault zone in the Central Depression of the basin during the post-rift stage. Those deviations, as evidenced from pre-existing fault reactivation, magmatic intrusions, and rapid post-rift subsidence in the Qiongdongnan Basin is believed to be related to the Hainan Plume event.

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