numerical modelling of arc continent collision application to taiwan two dimensional finite element numerical modelling is applied to study the deformation and failure of the overriding plate during arc continent collision continental margin subduction this plate has elasto plastic rheology with strain weakening and contains a volcanic arc with thinned and weakened lithosphere the overriding plate deforms due to the normal and tangential stresses applied along the interplate surface these boundary conditions represent the friction and pressure between the plates the latter is due to the flexural rigidity of the subducting lithosphere and the buoyancy force generated by the subducting continental crust the modelling shows that continental margin subduction results in increasing compression and failure of the overriding plate which occurs along the surface dipping under the arc in either of two possible directions the failure mode is largely controlled by the two competitive factors the rigidity of the subducting plate and thickness gradient of the subducted continental crust a high rigidity favors failure along an ocean vergent fault which is followed by a subduction reversal while a high thickness gradient favors failure in the opposite direction which is followed by a fore arc block underthrusting beneath the arc both scenarios seem to have natural analogs we consider one of them the ongoing arc continent collision in taiwan and argue that this process occurs according to the second scenario corresponding to the fore arc underthrusting wavelet statistical analysis of the seismicity distribution to the south of taiwan has clearly displayed a shallow 0 40 km zone of high density coherently distributed seismicity beneath the luzon arc this zone interpreted as a lithospheric scale fault dips from the forearc basin to the east and corresponds to the initiation of the forearc block subduction a self consistent combined mechanical gravity topography model is used to see whether failure of the overriding plate to the south of taiwan can be captured by this model by tuning diverent controlling parameters we did not succeed in obtaining realistic topography and gravity field in a model where failure of the overriding plate was not allowed introduction of this failure and underthrusting of the forearc block under the luzon arc allowed us to fit both topography and gravity data 2000 elsevier science b v all rights reserved

neogene fungal record from iodp site u1433 south china sea implications for paleoenvironmental change and the onset of the mekong river abstract the development of the mekong river although poorly constrained plays a key role in our understanding of south china sea drainage evolution here we attempt to improve our understanding of this evolution using a fungal spore record in the southwestern south china sea at international ocean discovery program iodp site u1433 we present the variety of fungal morphologies extracted from the sediments and investigate their possible relationships with paleoenvironmental changes based on types concentration and flux changes overall 30 morphologic types were found and are grouped into three basic assemblages single double and multi celled spores the spore fluxes continuously increase up section along with their diversity although there are strong shorter fluctuations one notable step in evolution is recorded at ca 8 ma we argue that the trends in fungal flux are mainly linked to the strengthened terrestrial biomass input driven by tectonics rather than paleoclimate change and that this event is mainly linked to onset of the mekong river in its present location

the transition from an active to a passive margin sw end of the south shetland trench antarctic peninsula abstract the lateral ending of the south shetland trench is analysed on the basis of swath bathymetry and multichannel seismic profiles in order to establish the tectonic and stratigraphic features of the transition from an northeastward active to a southwestward passive margin style this trench is associated with a lithospheric scale thrust accommodating the internal deformation in the antarctic plate and its lateral end represents the tip line of this thrust the evolutionary model deduced from the structures and the stratigraphic record includes a first stage with a compressional deformation predating the end of the subduction in the southwestern part of the study area that produced reverse faults in the oceanic crust during the tortonian the second stage occurred during the messinian and includes distributed compressional deformation around the tip line of the basal detachment originating a high at the base of the slope and the collapse of the now inactive accretionary prism of the passive margin the initial subduction of the high at the base of the slope induced the deformation of the accretionary prism and the formation of another high in the shelf the shelf transition high the third stage from the early pliocene to the present day includes the active compressional deformation of the shelf and the base of slope around the tip line of the basal detachment while extensional deformations are active in the outer swell of the trench

a new branch of the philippine fault system as observed from aeromagnetic and seismic data abstract the philippine fault is one of the major strike slip faults of the world extending over 1200 km from the lingayen la union region of northwestern luzon to the davao gulf south of mindanao nevertheless its total slip history of displacement and its exact location have been uncertain and even controversial significant new insight has been provided by aeromagnetic and seismic surveys made as part of a basin evaluation project of the philippines bureau of energy development funded by the world bank this paper outlines evidence from these surveys for a previously unrecognized major branch of the philippine fault system and tentatively discusses its paleogeographic implications we have interpreted aeromagnetic data covering most of the length of the fault and seismic profiles crossing it at various locations the philippine fault is well displayed in the aeromagnetic data surprisingly the data also show a major previously unrecognized branch of the philippine fault here named the sibuyan sea branch this branch is almost entirely offshore or is covered by quaternary or recent volcanic rocks it leaves the known philippine fault northeast of masbate island passes along the northeast edge of the sibuyan sea southwest of the bondoc peninsula passes northeast of marinduque island apparently passes through the taal volcano and then offshore west of the batangas peninsula the sibuyan sea branch is 350 km long and is presently active it is more obvious on seismic and aeromagnetic data than the northern part of the known philippine fault and thus may have accommodated more motion we have made a preliminary evaluation of the total slip on the sibuyan sea branch by attempting to restore long wavelength geophysical and geologic features including forearc basins ophiolite belts volcanic belts and regional bouguer free air and magnetic anomalies which suggests the possibility of 200 300 km of slip since about the early or middle miocene in this reconstruction the central luzon basin and luzon volcanic arc are continuous with the forearc basin and volcanic belt on panay as a continuous arc and forearc extending from northern ilocos to southern panay after collision with the palawan mindoro continental block continued motion along the manila trench north of mindoro has ruptured the central philippines along the sibuyan sea branch of the philippine fault thus the sibuyan sea branch could account for most of the post early to middle miocene relative motion between luzon and the visayas

composite transform convergent plate boundaries description and discussion abstract the leading edge of the overriding plate at an obliquely convergent boundary is commonly sliced by a system of strike slip faults this fault system is often structurally complex and may show correspondingly uneven strain effects with great vertical and translational shifts of the component blocks of the fault system the stress pattern and strain effects vary along the length of the system and change through time these margins are considered to be composite transform convergent ctc plate boundaries examples are given of structures formed along three ctc boundaries the aleutian ridge the solomon islands and the philippines the dynamism of the fault system along a ctc boundary can enhance vertical tectonism and basin formation this concept provides a framework for the evaluation of petroleum resources related to basin formation and mineral exploration related to igneous activity associated with transtensional processes

arc continent collisions sediment recycling and the maintenance of the continental crust author posting geological society of london 2009 this is the author s version of the work it is posted here by permission of geological society of london for personal use not for redistribution the definitive version was published in geological society london special publications 318 2009 75 103 doi 10 1144 sp318 3

late palaeogene quaternary geology of halmahera eastern indonesia initiation of a volcanic island arc the late palaeogene quaternary stratigraphy of halmahera is described and new formation names are proposed based on recent field investigations of the ne and central part of the island this stratigraphic information provides new insights into the neogene history of halmahera and the development of the present island arc the late palaeogene and younger rocks rest unconformably on an ophiolitic basement complex which formed part of a late cretaceous early tertiary fore arc after volcanic arc activity ceased in the eocene the former fore arc terrane was uplifted and deeply eroded in the late palaeogene some of the late palaeogene early miocene river valleys are currently being re excavated by the present rivers slow subsidence began in the mid late oligocene and by the end of the miocene all eastern halmahera was the site of shallow water carbonate deposition there is no evidence for arc volcanism in central halmahera at this time and the reported oligo miocene volcanism in nearby regions is interpreted as volcanism related to the sorong fault system the miocene shallow water region subsided rapidly in the early pliocene and the sedimentary basin formed was filled with marls succeeded by siliciclastic turbidites with increasing amounts of calc alkaline volcanic debris from a pliocene volcanic arc built on the western arms of halmahera probably on the eroded early tertiary arc this phase of rapid subsidence in the pliocene back arc region resulted from the initiation of subduction of the molucca sea lithosphere eastwards beneath halmahera differential subsidence on nw se and ne sw sets of faults in the region immediately behind the active arc led to the formation of deep sediment filled basins adjacent to the eastern arms a major deformation event in the pleistocene resulted in folding and local thrusting at the junction between eastern and western halmahera and volcanism ceased in the pliocene arc the third halmahera arc the quaternary arc currently active in the northern part of the islands began activity within the last 1 ma and is built upon the deformed and partly eroded pliocene arc the pleistocene deformation event and shift in position of the arc are interpreted as the result of the interaction of the eastward dipping molucca sea plate with adjacent plates either with a fragment of the australian continent in the sorong fault zone and or with the philippine sea plate beneath northern halmahera

a geophysical study of the manila trench luzon philippines 2 fore arc basin structural and stratigraphic evolution the pattern of sediment distribution within the manila trench subduction zone west of luzon exerts a strong influence on the tectonic evolution of the accretionary prism and the fore arc basins of this convergent plate margin multichannel common depth point seismic reflection data reveal up to 2600 m of turbidite sediments overlying a thin pelagic hemipelagic sediment layer and oceanic basement in the northern part of the manila trench these turbidites were transported from the uplifted collision zone of taiwan southward along the manila trench by gravity controlled processes similarly thinner turbidite deposits in the southern end of the trench were transported northward from the collision zone involving the north palawan block and the central philippines sedimentation within the manila trench is dominated by sources at the ends of the trench with longitudinal transport along the trench axis in contrast the fore arc basin system of the manila trench receives sediment through submarine canyons incised into the west luzon continental slope the rate of sediment supply to the fore arc basin system is not directly related to the rate of sediment supply to the trench the size of the accretionary prism varies significantly along strike of the trench and it strongly correlated with the local thickness of turbidite sediments within the trench a thickness of more than 200 m of trench turbidites is probably required before accretion and uplift become the dominant process affecting the fore arc region this generalization may apply to other convergent plate margins as well the uplift rate of the accretionary prism probably varies dramatically along the trench and is largely independent of variations in the local sediment accumulation rates in the fore arc basins this variability results in the formation of several different types of fore arc morphology along the manila trench the overall seismic stratigraphy of the west luzon trough fore arc basin is remarkably uniform with seismic sequences continuous for up to 110 km along strike the unconformities that bound these seismic sequences are probably the result of a complex interplay of relatively long term approximately 10 ma uplift of the accretionary prism and relatively short term approximately 1 2 ma variations in sediment supply to the fore arc basin modulated by eustatic sea level changes

tsunamigenic potential of an incipient submarine slope failure in the northern south china sea abstract tsunamis generated by submarine slope failures have the potential to cause devastating consequences the combination of 1 dense population and infrastructure along the coastline of south china sea scs and 2 frequent slope failures occurring along the marine slopes of the scs points to the vulnerability of china and surrounding countries to submarine landslide related tsunamis a geohazard that is still poorly understood in the scs in this study the tsunamigenic potential of a possible future slope failure along the continental slope of the scs is estimated after being constrained by geophysical data interpretation and numerical modeling results suggest that a slope failure of a scale similar to past events would likely generate a catastrophic tsunami on the numerous islands scattered throughout the northern scs with maximum wave height of 21 8 m furthermore the highly populated coastlines of scs would experience widespread tsunami events with maximum wave height of 6 m and little advance warning this preliminary study suggests that tsunamis generated by submarine slope failure are a potentially significant geohazard to the coastlines of scs and should be considered during the assessment of scs geohazard

earthquake induced crustal gravitational potential energy change in the philippine area abstract the crustal gravitational potential energy change gpe caused by earthquakes in the philippine area from january 1976 to november 2011 was estimated in this study the active convergence between the philippine sea plate and the sundaland eurasian margin is reflected by the greatest gains in gpe along the philippine negros and cotabato trenches whereas the manila trench is covered by a gpe loss pattern although the philippine mobile belt pmb itself is actually affected by the ongoing collision and subduction processes almost the entire philippine fault zone is dominated by gpe loss revealing a slightly extensional environment along the fault the time evolution of the cumulated gpe for different segments along the philippine archipelago shows distinct patterns due to the numerous large underthrusting events that have occurred along the philippine trench the cumulated gpe is regularly increasing in its most southern segment however in the middle segments where the palawan block enters into collision with the pmb the increase in cumulated gpe is relatively small in the most northern segment where the north luzon is located a decrease of cumulated gpe demonstrates that the seismic characteristic of the manila trench is dissimilar from other subduction systems in the world we suggest that the collision of both the palawan block and the benham rise with the pmb promotes the rotation of the pmb and facilitates the northward escape of the northeastern luzon resulting in a decrease of cumulated gpe in the northern philippines

back reaction between restite and melt implications for geothermobarometry and pressure temperature paths partial melting is an important process in high grade metamorphism and is responsible for the production of large volumes of melt in the earth9s crust unless melt extraction is complete in situ crystallizing melt back reacts with the restite upon cooling in the northampton block western australia spinel formed by high temperature 850 c partial melting of metapelites is separated from leucosome by garnet sillimanite or cordierite sillimanite coronas formation of the coronas by back reaction with a silica undersaturated melt is inferred because 1 textural evidence indicates that quartz was exhausted as a result of progressive dehydration melting before formation of spinel melt 2 the coronitic phases are never in direct contact with quartz of the leucosome 3 barometry on cordierite and garnet bearing equilibria with spinel gives conflicting pressures 8 0 0 5 and 3 3 0 2 kbar respectively at 850 c if reactions with quartz are assumed but pressure estimates converge on 6 5 0 5 kbar at lower silica activity a sio 2 0 85 0 02 these results indicate that the use of corona textures for the derivation of pressure temperature p t conditions and pressure temperature vectors in migmatites should be reconsidered such coronas may result from a heating cooling cycle without substantial change in pressure back reaction with residual melt is likely to be an important process in migmatites generally affecting both the solid residuum and the leucosome composition

a geophysical study of the manila trench luzon philippines 1 crustal structure gravity and regional tectonic evolution the manila trench subduction zone is an active convergent plate margin between the south china sea and the northern philippines the trench trends northerly and is associated with a volcanic arc an east dipping benioff zone beneath luzon and a well developed fore arc basin system the luzon trough fore arc basins lie landward of the manila trench and contain up to 4 5 km of cenozoic sediments offscraping and accretion of turbidite sediments deposited in the manila trench have resulted in the upbuilding and outbuilding of an accretionary prism which forms the seaward margin of the fore arc basin system the uplifted zambales ophiolite and its offshore extension form the landward side of the fore arc basin multichannel seismic reflection profiles reveal that folding and thrust faulting of trench strata occur at the base of the trench slope the major structural decollement at the manila trench usually forms near the unconformity separating the hemipelagic sediments from the turbidite sediments subduction and perhaps underplating of the basal hemipelagic trench sediments accompany the deformation and accretion of the overlying clastic deposits faulting and uplift occur within a narrow zone of the fore arc where seamounts associated with the relict spreading center of the south china sea basin have presumably been subducted north of lingayan gulf the fore arc is disrupted by active fault systems that trend north and northwest offshore from the luzon central valley and from the southern cordillera central based on regional geological and tectonic observations we infer that subduction probably began at the manila trench in late oligocene to middle miocene time the long term average convergence rate at the manila trench is estimated to be between 10 and 20 mm yr and may be slowing in the north owing to the collision of taiwan with eurasia

evolution of a forearc basin luzon central valley philippines the cenozoic history of the 14 km thick luzon central valley sequence illustrates the development of a forearc basin forearc basins are important both as major sediment traps and as sites of hydrocarbon accumulations the luzon basin is floored by oceanic crust on the seaward western side and older accreted terranes on the arc eastern side initial sedimentation on this oceanic crust occurred during early tertiary northward translation and emplacement of the crust as an ophiolite along a strike slip or oblique slip zone the basal sediments consist of pelagic limestones and thin ash layers overlain by sandy turbidites derived from uplift and progressive dissection of the ophiolite a sequence of arc derived sediments at least 26 000 ft 8 km thick was shed into the astern arc side of the basin during late paleogene to quaternary convergence along the western margin of luzon by the middle miocene the central valley became a continuous elongate basin fringed by extensive shelf deposits along both the uplifted seaward and arc sides of the basin detritus shed from both flanks filled the subsiding basin and resulted in progressively shallower depths nonmarine deposition began in central portions of the basin in the pliocene and migrated with time both north and south along the basin axis late miocene to holocene movement along the philippine fault zone caused uplift and folding of adjacent parts of the basin exploration models for the central valley predict gas prone hydrocarbon generation in central portions of the basin at times that coincide with and postdate the formation of both structural and stratigraphic traps previous drilling in the basin has either been in areas with thermally immature source rocks or has failed to reach prospective intervals where thermal maturation is inferred the hydrocarbon potential of the central valley has not been determined adequately

evidence of large prehistoric offshore earthquakes deduced from uplifted holocene marine terraces in pangasinan province luzon island philippines abstract uplifted holocene marine terraces in pangasinan province westernmost luzon island philippines are reported here for the first time as geomorphic evidence of large prehistoric offshore earthquakes we recognized up to three holocene terrace steps elevations of shoreline angles are ti 1 to 5 m tii 2 to 7 m and tiii 4 to 11 m above mean sea level amsl the lateral variation in the elevation of terrace steps indicates differential uplift along the coast the staircase topography characterized by horizontal abrasion platforms meter scale terrace risers and wave cut notches suggests that these geomorphic features were formed by large coseismic uplift events terrace morphology and radiocarbon ages further suggest that at least three coseismic coastal uplift events have occurred since the culmination of the post glacial sea level rise 6000 years ago we interpret tiii to be the holocene transgressive surface 6000 ybp and estimated a maximum uplift rate of 1 7 mm yr which is almost the same as the late pleistocene uplift rate of 1 3 mm yr we infer that proximity to offshore seismic sources has contributed to the deformation pattern of holocene terraces and variation in the number of terrace steps uplift patterns of marine terraces also suggest that the magnitude and location of prehistoric earthquakes may have varied between individual coseismic uplift events we conducted simple elastic dislocation modeling to evaluate the source parameters of the causative faults our preliminary models show that a landward dipping offshore reverse fault located at the base of a steep slope separating the fore arc basin and continental shelf could be responsible for coastal uplift along the western pangasinan peninsula

interseismic deformation and moment deficit along the manila subduction zone and the philippine fault system we examine interseismic coupling of the manila subduction zone and fault activity in the luzon area using a block model constrained by gps data collected from 1998 to 2015 estimated long term slip rates along the manila subduction zone show a gradual southward decrease from 90 100 mm yr at the northwest tip of luzon to 65 80 mm yr at the southern portion of the manila trench we provide two block models models a and b to illustrate possible realizations of coupling along the manila trench which may be used to infer future earthquake rupture scenarios model a shows a low coupling ratio of 0 34 offshore western luzon and continuous creeping on the plate interface at latitudes 18 19 n model b includes the north luzon trough fault and shows prevalent coupling on the plate interface with a coupling ratio of 0 48 both models fit gps velocities well though they have significantly different tectonic implications the accumulated strain along the manila subduction zone at latitudes 15 19 n could be balanced by earthquakes with composite magnitudes of mw 8 8 9 2 assuming recurrence intervals of 500 1000 years gps observations are consistent with full locking of the majority of active faults in luzon to a depth of 20 km inferred moments of large inland earthquakes in luzon fall in the range of mw 6 9 7 6 assuming a recurrence interval of 100 years

abra delta and northward continuation of philippine great fault abstract the abra river of northwest luzon appears to have built its delta into a fault trough that is located inside a shallow offshore bank the latter continuing northwestward as a submerged ridge that dies out in manila trench the faulted east margin of the bank is in line of continuation of the large philippine fault which crosses the philippine islands to the south the abra delta front slope has close spaced relatively shallow submarine valleys cut into it as is usual of such slopes and a turbidity current was discovered in one of these valleys

crustal structure and deformation at the northern manila trench between taiwan and luzon islands abstract the philippine sea plate overrides the eurasian plate along the east dipping manila trench between taiwan and luzon islands from south to north the plate convergence gradually evolves from normal subduction of the south china sea lithosphere to initial collision of the taiwan orogen the subduction related earthquakes become diffusive close to taiwan the accretionary prism is dramatically wider toward taiwan to understand the plate convergent features of this subduction collision transition zone we have analyzed twelve seismic reflection profiles across the manila trench between luzon and taiwan the results show that the basement of northern south china sea basin generally dips toward east and south the northern manila trench accumulates more trench fill sediments in the south than in the north a sequence boundary t0 is suggested to distinguish the hemipelagic and trench fill sediments probably due to the collision in taiwan the sequence boundary t0 displays more gentle slope or has been uplifted in the north structural analysis shows that the subducting crust in the northern manila trench area can be characterized by three distinctive zones a normal fault zone nfz a proto thrust zone ptz and a thrust zone tz the nfz is defined by the distribution of numerous normal faults in the top or upper portion of the subducting crust the normal faults are gradually buried by trench fill sediments when they are closer to the deep trench it is suggested that normal fault may take place at the location where the crust starts to bend and induces gravity sliding of the upper sedimentary layers some buried normal faults could be reactivated to blind thrust faults because of stronger plate convergence near the accretionary prism the ptz is located between the nfz and the frontal thrust of the accretionary prism it contains blind thrust faults or folds instead of thrust faults the successive distribution of the crustal structures of normal faults blind thrust and thrust faults at the trench area suggests that the blind thrust faults develop along the location of pre existing normal faults the brittle deformation occurs at the lower part of the sedimentary layers probably because of stronger compaction and less water content eventually blind thrust faults may propagate upward and become thrust faults at the seabed

reconstruction of subduction zone paleogeometries and quantification of upper plate material losses caused by tectonic erosion we propose in this paper an original method for quantifying the material losses at subduction zones mainly based on vertical movements of the active margins we first test the method using isostatic and elastic models applying it to 15 different well constrained convergent margins the main conclusion is that most of them are presently close to the isostatic equilibrium consequently we consider as a first hypothesis that such was also the case in the past and that erosion or accretion are natural mechanisms restoring the equilibrium in response to a perturbation then we apply this model to compute the geometry of the palcoslab knowing the palcotopography of the margin the comparison between present and past ocean margin lithospheric wedge geometries provides estimates of the removed material that constituted the initial wedge two cases were studied for palcoreconstructions japan and peru the results show that a considerable amount of material was removed during the neogene along both margins a detailed interpretation of the neogene history of the japan margin is proposed on the basis of our results

on the origins of earth rotation anomalies new insights on the basis of both paleogeodetic data and gravity recovery and climate experiment grace data 1 the theory previously developed to predict the impact on earth s rotational state of the late pleistocene glaciation cycle is extended in particular we examine the extent to which a departure of the infinite time asymptote of the viscoelastic tidal love number of degree 2 k2t from the observed fluid love number kf impacts the theory a number of tests of the influence of the difference in these love numbers on theoretical predictions of the model of the glacial isostatic adjustment gia process are explored relative sea level history predictions are shown not to be sensitive to the difference even though they are highly sensitive to the influence of the changing rotational state itself we also explore in detail the accuracy with which the gravity recovery and climate experiment grace satellite system is able to observe the global gia process including the time dependent amplitude of the degree 2 and order 1 spherical harmonic components of the gravitational field the only components that are significantly influenced by rotational effects it is explicitly shown that the grace observation of these properties of the time varying gravitational field is sufficiently accurate to rule out the values predicted by the ice 5g vm2 model of peltier 2004 however we also note that this model is constrained only by data from an epoch during which modern greenhouse gas induced melting of both the great polar ice sheets and small ice sheets and glaciers was not occurring such modern loss of grounded continental ice strongly influences the evolving rotational state of the planet and thus the values of the degree 2 and order 1 stokes coefficients as they are currently being measured by the grace satellite system a series of sensitivity tests are employed to demonstrate this fact we suggest that the accuracy of scenarios for modern land ice melting may be tested by ensuring that such scenarios conform to the grace observations of these crucial time dependent stokes coefficients

source to sink transport processes of fluvial sediments in the south china sea the south china sea offers an excellent case for studying source to sink transport processes of fluvial sediments among the global marginal seas this study synthesizes existing clay mineralogical and geochemical data from similar to 1500 samples from the seafloor and surrounding rivers deepwater mooring observation results and high resolution glacial cyclic clay mineralogy records from six high quality sediment cores source to sink sediment transport from the river mouth to the continental shelf and then to the abyssal basin is investigated at two time scales modern process and late quaternary glacial cycles the results firstly show the high diversity of clay mineralogical and geochemical compositions in riverbed surface sediments surrounding the south china sea e g dominant illite and chlorite in taiwan overwhelming majority of smectite in luzon dominant kaolinite in south china and similar amounts of the four clay mineral species in red and mekong river systems the formation of these fluvial sediments through chemical weathering in surrounding drainage systems is controlled principally by the east asian monsoon climate with warm temperature and high precipitation and subordinately by tectonic activity and specific lithological character the basin wide distribution of clay mineral assemblages combined with neodymium and strontium isotopic compositions reflects strong provenance control and differential settling effects the differential settling of kaolinite in slightly saline and proximal regions relative to smectite in more saline and distal regions is well demonstrated in the south china sea through combining clay mineralogical distributions on the seafloor with observed oceanic current systems the modern transport pathways can be well established e g in the northern south china sea illite and chlorite from taiwan are mainly carried by contour currents with the strong influence of mesoscale eddies high resolution sediment dynamic analysis for the late quaternary reveals different sediment transport patterns in the northern western and southern south china sea when the land sea configuration dramatically changed during glacial conditions in the north the terrigenous dispersal is mainly controlled by provenance supply and oceanic current transport in the west the clay mineral assemblage reflects variations of the prevailing surface current influenced by monsoon winds in the south the clay mineral input indicates intensive chemical weathering during interglacial periods and strengthened physical erosion during glacial periods the transport of terrigenous sediments since the last glaciation is quantitatively reconstructed through studying two deepwater sediment cores located in the northern south china sea the relative contributions from three provenances south china luzon and taiwan highlight their distinct variability over the last 28 ka implying that the southward shift of the inter tropical convergence zone itcz at 16 ka bp caused an increased sediment contribution from south china the intensified influence of the kuroshio current intrusion controls more efficient westward transport of luzon sediments and the stronger deepwater current transports taiwan sourced sediments further westward from the last glaciation to the holocene c 2015 elsevier b v all rights reserved

past and potential tsunami sources in the south china sea a brief synthesis abstract extending across some 3 5 million square km and with coastlines populated by in excess of 80 million people the south china sea scs is bordered by seven independent states understanding the risk of tsunamis in the scs is therefore an imperative especially given the new priorities for the science community following the endorsement by the un general assembly of the sendai framework for disaster risk reduction 2015 2030 our review presents a synthesis of existing literature on the current state of knowledge concerning known tsunamigenic threats but also highlights a number of other potential sources that have so far received less attention or gone largely un or under recognised an overview of the geological evolution of the scs is presented in order to appreciate how the existing structural configuration of the ocean basin is responsible for the presence of a variety of potential tsunamigenic mechanisms traditional thinking places the generation of a large magnitude earthquake at the manila trench subduction zone at the top of the spectrum for tsunami potential with several simulations already available in the literature illustrating wave characteristics resulting from the worst case rupture in addition to the manila trench and other possible earthquake sources however volcanic activity and submarine landsliding of sediment burden on continental shelves on the scs margins represent hitherto fundamentally unquantified tsunami threats although revealed nonetheless by for example the existence of the giant brunei and baiyun submarine slides furthermore in the central scs previously considered essentially devoid of tsunami sources numerous near surface carbonate platforms and coral atolls show evidence of arcuate bight like structures in their planform geometry likewise suggesting their propensity for possible tsunamigenic lateral flank collapse in the current absence of well constrained tsunami probability estimates and scenarios of wave size and propagation features for non earthquake tsunami sources future research priorities lie in two main areas these are 1 improvement of modelling for tsunamigenic submarine failures as well as for earthquakes and 2 a greater focus on geomorphic investigation to identify palaeotsunami deposits on coastlines considered likely to have been impacted in the past and where good preservation potential exists this is needed to establish the magnitude timing frequency of events on holocene timescales the last 10 000 years well beyond historical records thereby improving our capabilities for understanding and forecasting the likelihood and severity of future tsunami risk in the south china sea

the shear wave velocity structure of the crust and uppermost mantle beneath tagaytay philippines inferred from receiver function analysis depths of the partially melted zone and the moho discontinuity are probably at 18 kilometers and 34 kilometers respectively beneath tagaytay seismic station luzon philippines this conclusion is based on the shear wave velocity structure determined in this study which indicates the presence of a low velocity zone and high velocity zone at these depths the shear wave velocity model was derived from the inversion of five receiver functions of teleseismic earthquakes recorded by the broadband seismometer at tagaytay however due to the very limited information to constrain our initial model other models with comparable waveform fit were also obtained but with deeper low velocity zone and shallower moho

lateral variation of upper mantle structure beneath new caledonia determined from p wave receiver function evidence for a fossil subduction zone summary short period teleseismic p waves recorded at noumea new caledonia from intermediate and deep focus earthquakes in se asia and the sw pacific are used to investigate crustal and upper mantle structure of the norfolk ridge which is currently described as a zone of convergence in its caledonian part radial components recorded from various source backazimuths show a succession of large p to s converted waves whose timing and polarity suggest the presence of a north dipping low velocity zone at approximately 60km depth below the station the inferred strong lateral variations of structure in the upper mantle are also supported by observations of complex horizontal particle motions and large tangential components which exhibit clear p to s phases the high velocity contrast observed across these dipping interfaces is interpreted as a structural remnant of the new caledonia basin oceanic crust which would have been underthrust beneath the new caledonia crust using geometrical ray theory in dipping structure a model valid for the noumea station has been derived the crust is apparently quite homogeneous it is 26 1 km thick beneath the station and seems to thicken eastward as deduced from the orientation of the moho the low average crustal velocities suggest a continental nature for new caledonia toward the thrust zone the moho is a thick transition zone whereas it can be modelled by a sharp boundary elsewhere the inferred structure can be interpreted in terms of either a dead subduction zone or an underthrusting zone according to the history of compressive deformations observed in land the underthrusting would likely have been syntectonic of the new caledonia late eocene obduction

processes of allochthonous terrane evolution mindoro island philippines on mindoro two tectonostratigraphic terranes the north palawan block and the mindoro block are separated by a steeply dipping shear zone the north palawan block was rifted off southern china in the oligocene and comprises most of the shallow southern end of the south china sea the eastern part of this terrane exposed on mindoro includes jurassic and paleogene strata probable rift basalts of oligocene age and oligo miocene graben fill deposits in the late oligocene and early miocene the eastern north palawan block underwent crustal stretching with grabens oriented at a high angle to synchronous spreading anomalies in the south china basin we hypothesize that grabens formed in an overall transtensional environment near a transform boundary at the eastern margin of the opening south china basin the mindoro block consists of a pre upper cretaceous low grade metamorphic basement overlain by upper cretaceous and upper eocene strata the mindoro block records several episodes of intense deformation of mesozoic and tertiary age and contrasts with the north palawan block both in terms of stratigraphy and structural evolution the mindoro suture which separates the mindoro and north palawan blocks is a complex structural boundary comprising slices of diverse lithologies separated by steeply dipping anastomosing faults deformed tectonic slices in the suture zone include serpentinized ultramafic rock amphibolite and rocks derived from both of the bounding terranes we interpret this suture as a zone of mostly transcurrent faulting that was active through much of mid tertiary time paleogeographic considerations for early and middle miocene time support the premise that the west side of the central philippine archipelago was a left lateral transform boundary the mindoro and north palawan blocks were initially juxtaposed along the transcurrent mindoro suture by late miocene time subsequent deformation on mindoro includes crustal shortening associated with the southern end of the manila trench which projects onshore on southwest mindoro the onset of shortening here probably reflects a late miocene change in philippine eurasian plate motion the mindoro suture zone is now locked and it acts as a rigid buttress against which strata of the north palawan block have been structurally stacked the mindoro suture zone is similar to other terrane boundaries in the northern philippines the history of terrane transport in this region was apparently dominated by strike parallel shuffling of terranes along major transcurrent boundaries within the philippine arc transcurrent motion has taken place in extensional and compressional regimes and it is ongoing today this may be a dominant process by which complex island arc systems are disrupted prior to accretion onto a continental margin

plate coupling along the manila subduction zone between taiwan and northern luzon abstract we use gps data trench parallel gravity anomaly tpga and bathymetry to infer plate coupling patterns along the manila subduction zone using a block model and a fault geometry constrained by seismicity we simultaneously solve for the location of euler pole and angular velocity between the sunda and luzon blocks as well as the slip deficit rate on plate interface our estimates show that the euler pole between the sunda and luzon blocks is situated at southern palawan near 8 3 n and 119 4 e with the angular velocity of 4 6 myr 1 the estimated convergence rate along the manila trench continuously decreases southward from 91 mm yr at the northern tip of luzon to 55 mm yr north of mindoro the inversion of gps data reveals partially locked fault patches extending from the west luzon trough to the east of scarborough seamount chain the slip deficit rate in this region is in the range of 20 30 mm yr corresponding to a coupling ratio of 0 4 however the fault slip behavior is not well resolved near the north luzon trough based on a good correlation between locations of large subduction zone earthquakes and areas possessing gravity low we investigate a variety of tpga based plate coupling models assuming different scaling between tpga values and plate coupling ratios the tpga based plate coupling models offer plausible rupture scenarios which are not constrained by current gps data the partially locked fault zone near 15 16 5 n may be associated with the subducted scarborough seamount wherein oceanic floor is highly fractured the great subduction zone earthquake propagates beneath the scarborough seamount seems to be unlikely the densification of gps network in central luzon and seafloor geodetic observations close to trench axis are crucial to distinguish the detailed fault coupling patterns and the role of subducted seamounts

slab breakoff as a mechanism for flipping of subduction polarity in taiwan we propose a model that involves breakoff of the east dipping eurasian slab beneath the taiwan orogen to account for the flipping of subduction polarity in northern taiwan the breakoff was initiated in southern ryukyu in the early pliocene and then propagated southwestward into taiwan like an opening zipper detachment of the eurasian slab has created a mantle window for the north dipping philippine sea plate to move in laterally causing a switch in the subduction polarity slab breakoff not only provides a testable model for the lithospheric structure of taiwan but also accounts for the high heat flow rapid uplift synorogenic extension deep focus earthquakes and north diminishing crustal contraction in the taiwan mountain belt

constraints of sea beam data on crustal fabrics and seafloor spreading in the south china sea abstract the south china sea is a mid late tertiary marginal basin the magnetic anomaly lineations in the eastern part of the basin trend approximately east west 1 2 suggesting a north south direction of spreading in the spring of 1985 two cruises on the french research vessel jean charcot provided sea beam coverage seismic reflection magnetic and gravity profiles the sea beam data exhibit two major structural trends scarps striking n50 e 15 interpreted as normal faults and scarps striking n140 e 15 interpreted as fracture zones this fabric implies a northwest southeast direction of spreading up to about 100 km north and south of the inferred spreading axis 3 dense sea beam coverage of a roughly 1 square area northwest of the scarborough seamounts chain shows that the emplacement of these seamounts was at least in its initial stage controlled by faulting in two orthogonal directions n50 e and n140 e magnetic and gravimetric maps of the same area also reveal anomalies trending roughly n50 e which are disrupted by transform zones striking n140 e this detailed study indicates that the fracture zones may be closely spaced less than 20 30 km east of macclesfield bank furthermore magnetic anomalies identified as 6 and 6a 20 myr along two north south profiles located at both edges to the north of this detailed study area may be correlated with the n80 e trend characteristic of such anomalies in the eastern part of the south china sea the east west trend of magnetic anomalies 6 and 6a south of scarborough seamount chain recognised by taylor and hayes 1983 1 is incompatible with the trend of the fault scarps observed on sea beam data we infer that progressive right lateral offsets of the ridge across closely spaced discontinuities may account for the nearly east west average trend of some of the magnetic anomalies and of the scarborough seamount chain which represents the location of the relict spreading axis in spite of a n50 e spreading direction the whole central part of the basin east of 115 e may have formed in this way since n130 140 e striking fracture zones are observed on the sea beam swaths this model may correspond to the second of two successive spreading phases with n s and nw se directions of extension respectively as was presented by the authors in a previous paper pautot et al 1986 3 alternatively we may assume that the direction of extension did not change radically during the opening history 3 implying that oblique spreading occurred along n80 e trending ridge segments creating the n80 e trending scarps and magnetic anomalies observed to the north and to the south of the study area such a direction of extension is compatible with mid late tertiary left lateral movements along large n130 150 e strike slip faults such as the red river and wang chao faults in south china and sundaland

empirical relationships among the convergence rate of plates rollback rate of trench axis and island arc tectonics laws of convergence rate of plates abstract the data on 27 recent arcs which were subducted by normal oceanic lithosphere were compiled among the compression extension rates for island arcs v a compression is defined as positive and the kinematic components of absolute plate motions parallel to the direction of backarc compression extension v on oceanward velocity of the overriding plate v sn continentward velocity of the subducting plate and v tn rollback rate of the trench axis the equations v a v on v sn 7 2 cm y 1 v tn 7 2 cm y v sn 2 are found to hold as for the convergent zones associated with a wadati benioff zone deeper than 200 km equation 1 suggests that backarc spreading and crustal shortening play the role of compensating the deviation of the convergence rate from the critical value of 7 2 cm y the equation 2 means that any subducting oceanic lithosphere has the potentiality of making the trench axis rollback at the rate of 7 2 cm y and that the virtual rollback rate v tn is determined by the balance between the potential rollback rate 7 2 cm y and v sn the present author calls the kinematic relationships represented by equations 1 and 2 laws of convergence rate of plates the convergent zones of plates associated with the wadati benioff zone shallower than 200 km also show a tendency that the greater and smaller values of v on v sn correspond to the backarc compression and extension however the critical value is 3 4 cm y instead of 7 2 cm y

geodynamic evolution of the taiwan luzon mindoro belt since the late eocene abstract the structural framework of the taiwan luzon mindoro belt or festoon is described following three major transects the luzon transect with active subduction and active island arc the taiwan transect with active collision the mindoro transect with active subduction and inactive collision based on this geological study and on available geophysical data a model for the geodynamic evolution of this portion of the philippine sea and eurasia plates boundary is proposed in a succession of reconstructions between the late eocene and the present the major geodynamic events are 1 1 beginning of the opening of the south china sea s c s in lower oligocene times contemporaneous with obduction of the zambales and angat ophiolites on luzon 2 2 subduction of a mesozoic oceanic basin along the proto manila trench from the upper oligocene to the lower miocene 3 3 obduction of the south china sea oceanic crust onto the chinese and reed bank calamian passive margins in middle miocene time 14 15 ma related to a major kinematic reorganization end of opening of the s c s 4 4 beginning of collision between the luzon microblock and the two margins of the s c s in the upper miocene 7 ma collision is still active in taiwan whereas it stopped in mindoro during the pliocene

subduction of the south china sea axial ridge below luzon philippines abstract the scarborough seamount chain present at the axis of the extinct south china sea spreading center is being subducted obliquely along the manila trench a detailed seabeam survey of this convergent zone reveals that the fabric of the ridge is characterized by n60 e trending normal faults and n130 e transform faults this ridge can be traced into the forearc area this could be interpreted as the result of underplating of ridge fragments which are accreted to the upper plate

accretionary prism forearc interactions as reflected in the sedimentary fill of southern thrace basin lemnos island ne greece architecture of the well exposed ancient forearc basin successions of northeast aegean sea greece provides useful insights into the interplay between arc magmatism accretionary prism exhumation and sedimentary deposition in forearc basins the upper eocene lower oligocene basin fill of the southern thrace forearc basin reflects the active influence of the uplifted accretionary prism deep marine sediments predominate the basin fill that eventually shoals upwards into shallow marine sediments this trend is related to tectonically driven uplift and compression field stratigraphic sedimentological petrographic geochemical and provenance data on the lower oligocene shallow marine deposits revealed the accretionary prism i e pindic cordillera or biga peninsula as the major contributor of sediments into the forearc region field investigations in these shallow marine deposits revealed the occurrence of conglomerates with 1 mafic and ultramafic igneous rock clasts 2 low grade metamorphic rock fragments and 3 sedimentary rocks the absence of felsic volcanic fragments rules out influence of a felsic source rock geochemical analysis indicates that the studied rocks were accumulated in an active tectonic setting with a sediment source of mainly mafic composition and palaeodispersal analysis revealed a ne nne palaeocurrent trend towards the rhodopian magmatic arc thus these combined provenance results make the accretionary prism the most suitable candidate for the detritus forming these shallow marine deposits

the geochemistry and tectonic setting of the northern section of the luzon arc the philippines and taiwan abstract the luzon arc consists of a 1200 km chain of stratovolcanoes and volcanic necks stretching from mindoro 13 n to the coastal range of taiwan 24 n this study is concerned with three of the five major segments along the arc the northern luzon babuyan and taiwan segments the late tertiary to quaternary volcanics of these segments are primarily andesitic but range in composition from basalt to rhyolite and are typical arc volcanics porphyritic plagioclase textures primarily calc alkaline with a few tholeiitic volcanic centers low tio 2 concentrations and low high field strength element hfse to large ion lithophile element lile ratios there is a large range in k 2 o and other liles from low k tholeiites to high k calc alkaline suites calayan island and mt tabungon volcanic substratum of mt cagua volcanics in the babuyan segment and most rocks from the taiwan coastal range are low k tholeiites e g nearly flat ree patterns low lree and lile concentrations and low th u ratios the dominant calc alkaline series ranges from medium k to high k rocks the high k calc alkaline rocks are mainly young and are found on batan and lutao islands when the low k tholeiitic and medium and high k calc alkaline rocks are associated in the same region the low k rocks are usually older there is a general relationship between k 2 o and other lile concentrations and k ar radiometric dates to some extent 87 sr 86 sr ratios also increase with time throughout the arc there is a correlation between latitude and 87 sr 86 sr and a positive correlation between 87 sr 86 sr and la sm cn an increase in both these geochemical parameters has been associated with an increase in the input of continental crustal material in other arc regions the lowest 87 sr 86 sr ratios found along the entire luzon arc the samples from baguio are equivalent to those found in samples from mid tertiary plutons from northern luzon and the bicol arc both groups of rocks are associated with westward subduction along the philippine trench where presumably deep oceanic sediments with little or no continental crustal component have been subducted the absence of continental crust below the arc in the northern luzon and babuyan segments has been suggested by several groups of researchers this together with the fact that metasomatized ultramafic nodules probably of mantle origin in disequilibrium with their batan host lavas but with similar 87 sr 86 sr and la sm cn ratios to the host rocks suggests that upper level assimilation afc processes does not appear to be the major influence on the geochemical signatures a collision zone between the upper crustal block of eastern china and taiwan and the manila trench has been recorded in the northern section of the arc taiwan sediments have also been shown to decrease in thickness along the south china sea basin nearly parallel to the manila trench from north to south the sediment source region is most probably taiwan and perhaps eastern china this latitudinal in variation sediment thickness may explain the crustal signature related to both geochemical and age parameters we suggest that this crustal input has taken place via subduction of sediment rich in a crustal component

late mesozoic compressional folds in dongsha waters the northern margin of the south china sea once considered as a component part of the cenozoic pearl river mouth basin prmb dongsha waters was found with distinct tectono stratigraphic style in which the upper structural layer comprises only thin usually 0 5 1 km sediments of mid miocene to quaternary whereas the lower layer consists of early cretaceous terrestrial jurassic marine and possibly triassic sedimentary rocks totaled 4 9 km thick the major sedimentary hiatus between them corresponds to the late cretaceous to mid miocene epoch well during the continental rifting to oceanic spreading stage faulting and magmatism during the opening of the south china sea are basically weak over the central part of dongsha waters where the crustal thickness is mostly around 25 km thick reflecting a relatively stable block all these indicate less influence exerted by the cenozoic rifting strikingly contrasting to the neighboring areas where thick rift to drift sediments have accumulated with the recognition of mesozoic strata in this and the previous study a relict mesozoic basin is proposed to be existed over dongsha waters and named as dongsha basin there are two generations late neogene and late jurassic to early cretaceous of compressions featuring seafloor and blind folds respectively the former presents only in few localities in east to dongsha island the later distributes widely as individuals in north and as trains in south they are characterized mostly by gentle growth folds inside which only a few minor upthrust faults with offsets in the order of a few tens to hundreds of meters the upthrust faults dipped mostly southeastward against to the northwestward subduction of paleo pacific as suggested in a previous study they featured more like back thrust growth tectonics formed a broad nne ssw trending belt oblique to the northern margin of the south china sea and thus are inferred to have been the far field impact of the late mesozoic subduction of the proto pacific c 2014 elsevier b v all rights reserved

a double island arc between taiwan and luzon consequence of ridge subduction analysis of geomorphological geochronological geochemical and geophysical features in the segment of the taiwan luzon arc between taiwan and luzon the bashi segment allows the recognition of a double arc structure the two volcanic chains are separated by 50 km just north of luzon 18 n and converge near 20 n islets in the western chain are older and largely composed of volcanic rocks of miocene to pliocene age they all show low relief lateritic platforms and wave cut terraces and are covered by massive recrystallized limestone in contrast all active volcanoes in this segment of the taiwan luzon arc belong to the eastern chain where most islets are quaternary in age the volcanoes have well developed cone shapes and well preserved deposits of near vent facies magmas of the eastern chain have higher ksi la n la yb n and lowerend than their counterparts at the same latitude in the western chain therefore the magmas erupted in the eastern chain were derived from more enriched mantle sources than the magmas erupted in the western chain moreover the available seismological data seem to suggest an abrupt increase of the dip angle from 30 at 18 n to 80 at 20 n thus the double arc structure is located in the region where the benioff zone suddenly changes in analogy with the lesser antilles arc we propose a geodynamic model in which the double arc in the bashi strait is the tectonic manifestation of the subduction of the aseismic scarborough seamount chain the extinct mid ocean ridge of the south china sea before that ridge reached the manila trench the western chain was the volcanic front when the ridge reached the subduction zone at 5 4 ma its buoyancy temporarily interrupted the subduction thus causing a time gap in magmatic activity furthermore this ridge arc collision was probably also responsible for regional uplift causing extensive sub aerial weathering and erosion as well as massive reef formation in the western chain when subduction started again the dip angle became shallower in response to the extra buoyancy of the downgoing ridge if the depth of magma generation remained constant the shallower dip angle would have naturally led to an eastward shift of the volcanic front thus producing the younger eastern chain moreover we speculate that the abrupt change of the dip angle may have torn the downgoing slab thus allowing more enriched continental lithospheric material to invade the mantle wedge from the northwest thus imprinting a geochemically more enriched signature on the magmas of the eastern chain

development of arc continent collision melanges linking onshore geological and offshore geophysical observations of the pliocene lichi melange southern taiwan and northern luzon arc western pacific abstract although the lichi melange has been studied intensively over the last decade its enigmatic nature has generated debates regarding its origin and evolution two prominent models have been proposed to explain the lichi melange the olistostrome model with slumping sediments and the tectonic collision model with intensive shearing neither model can explain what causes the interpreted slumping and complex faulting processes for the sediments here we study the lichi melange using a time space equivalence approach in which the tectonics of the offshore continuation of the lichi melange should represent an earlier stage in its evolution our study of marine multichannel seismic data suggested that the backthrusts in the accretionary prism propagate arcward above and within the deforming forearc and arc basement to incorporate the sediment and basement materials into the rear of the accretionary prism therefore we proposed the retrowedge evolution model whose novel key feature is that the irregular topography of the arc basement affects the taper angle of the retrowedge the retrowedge has a greater taper than the minimum taper of the prowedge so the slope can be steeper and thus favors gravitational failure such processes would generate complex faulting and slumping processes in the backthrusted forearc ridge and basin in sum this retrowedge model reconciles the mixture of slumping and faulting processes found in the lichi melange

seismicity and tectonics of a continent island arc collision zone at the island of taiwan a collision between the eurasian plate continental margin and a volcanic island arc on the philippine sea plate about 4 m y ago uplifted the island of taiwan many lines of geological and geophysical evidence suggest that the collision is still active today and is currently propagating southward due to plate interaction geological and tectonic settings have become more complicated since the onset of the collision the collision suture is along the longitudinal valley lv in eastern taiwan seismic studies including earthquake monitoring and seismic refraction lines conducted in 1985 in eastern taiwan and its offshore area using land seismic stations and ocean bottom seismographs have generated results that better constrain the present day plate interaction both the crustal velocity structure and earthquake hypocenter distribution suggest that the subduction of the philippine sea plate along the ryukyu trench extends to the east coast of taiwan near about 23 5 n very high seismicity with dominant right lateral strike slip faulting is found in the back arc region behind the ryukyu trench this seismic activity is interpreted as a result of plate convergence and back arc wrenching due to the relative motion between the okinawa platelet and the eurasian plate the region close to the lv in eastern taiwan showed only shallow and a relatively low level of seismicity during this experiment with higher seismicity to the east of the lv the lack of intermediate depth events suggests that subduction is no longer active along the collision zone and the difference in seismicity between the regions east and west of the lv reflects the difference in strength of the adjacent continental and island arc crusts to the south of the lv seismicity continued southward with intermediate depth events distributed mainly to the east of taiwan along a nearly vertical benioff zone this supports the argument that convergence and collision are still active south of taiwan

active deformation in eastern indonesia and the philippines from gps and seismicity data in this study we combine global positioning system gps velocities with information on the style of regional seismicity to obtain a self consistent model velocity and strain rate field for the entire eastern indonesia and philippines region in the process of interpolating 93 previously published gps velocities the style and direction of the seismic strain rate field inferred from earthquakes with m0 1 1020 n m from the harvard centroid moment tensor catalog are used as constraints on the style and direction of model strain rates within the plate boundary zones the style and direction of the seismic strain rate field are found to be self similar for earthquakes up to m0 1 1020 n m equivalent to mw 7 3 our inversion result shows the following the java trench which lacks any significant historic seismicity delineates the australian plate au sunda block sunda plate boundary west of the island of sumba east of sumba convergence is distributed over the back arc and banda sea and there is no subduction at the timor trough suggesting that the northern boundary of the au plate runs north of this part of the banda arc through the banda sea in new guinea most motion is taken up as strike slip deformation in the northern part of the island delineating the pacific plate pa au boundary however some trench normal convergence is occurring at the new guinea trench evidence that the strain is partitioned in order to accommodate oblique pa au motion pa au motion is consistent with nuvel 1a direction but 8 mm yr 1 slower than the nuvel 1a estimate for pa au motion the sulawesi trench and molucca sea delineate zones of high strain rates consistent with high levels of active seismicity the sulawesi trench may take up some of the au sunda motion philippine sea plate motion is in a direction slightly northward of the nuvel ia estimate and is partitioned in some strike slip strain rates along the philippine fault and relatively larger trench normal convergence along the philippine trench and on the philippine mainland in the southern philippines and along the manila trench in the northern philippine islands the high level of strain rate along the manila trench is not released by any significant historic seismic activity for the entire eastern indonesia philippines region seismicity since 1963 has taken up 40 of the total moment rate inferred from our model

tectonic setting of western pacific marginal basins abstract global kinematics as well as magnetic anomalies of marginal basins with continental geology and paleomagnetic data as additional constraints are used to present a set of reconstructions of the western pacific marginal basins between 56 ma and the present at key periods 56 43 32 20 12 and 3 ma our model accounts for the rapid motion of exotic terranes along the whole of the western pacific convergent zone marginal basins appear to open in a great variety of tectonic settings the two extreme examples being the mariana trough where trench suction may be the predominant driving force and the south china sea where intracontinental deformation appears to be the major mechanism the study of marginal basins is a 3 d problem which must take into account the whole tectonic context subduction related tectonics in cross section and upper plate deformation in map view and not only a 2 d problem the classical trench arc back arc problem

analysis of crustal deformation in luzon philippines using geodetic observations and earthquake focal mechanisms we utilize regional gps velocities from luzon philippines with focal mechanism data from the harvard centroid moment tensor cmt catalog to constrain tectonic deformation in the complex plate boundary zone between the philippine sea plate and eurasia the sundaland block processed satellite imagery and digital elevation models are used with existing gravity anomaly seismicity and geologic maps to define a suite of six elastic blocks geodetic and focal mechanism data are inverted simultaneously to estimate plate rotations and fault locking parameters for each of the tectonic blocks and faults comprising luzon major tectonic structures that were found to absorb the plate convergence include the manila trench 20 100 mm yr 1 and east luzon trough 9 15 mm yr 1 philippine trench 29 34 mm yr 1 which accommodate eastward and westward subduction beneath luzon respectively the left lateral strike slip philippine fault 20 40 mm yr 1 and its northward extensions the northern cordillera fault 17 37 mm yr 1 transtension and the digdig fault 17 27 mm yr 1 transpression the macolod corridor a zone of active volcanism crustal thinning extension and extensive normal and strike slip faulting in southwestern luzon is associated with left lateral transtensional slip of 5 10 mm yr 1 the marikina fault which separates the central luzon block from the southwestern luzon block reveals 10 12 mm yr 1 of left lateral transpression our analysis suggests that much of the philippine fault and associated splays are locked to partly coupled while the manila and philippine trenches appear to be poorly coupled luzon is best characterized as a tectonically active plate boundary zone comprising six mobile elastic tectonic blocks between two active subduction zones the philippine fault and associated intra arc faults accommodate much of the trenchparallel component of relative plate motion 2006 elsevier b v all rights reserved

accreted terranes in the northern part of the philippine archipelago the philippine archipelago consists of a complex array of ophiolites continental fragments and island arc elements that can be identified as accreted terranes similar to those increasingly recognized as components of orogenic zones the northern philippines including luzon mindoro and nearby smaller islands can be divided into at least six of these tectonic elements from west to east across central luzon there are the neogene accretionary prism of the west luzon arc the eocene zambales ophiolite the cretaceous angat ophiolite and a late cretaceous early paleogene volcanic arc built on an older metamorphic basement this arc terrane is repeated by offset along the philippine fault to the south the western luzon terranes are juxtaposed against the metamorphic basement block of mindoro which itself is colliding with the north palawan microcontinental fragment the ophiolites appear to have originated in back arc basins rather than in oceanic plateaus and the metamorphic belts have protoliths indicating deformation along active margins perhaps deep within accretionary prisms the philippine terranes are interpreted as fragments that originated within the complex pacific eurasian plate boundary rather than as intra pacific basin units these terranes have been assembling at least since the oligocene by strike slip and convergent displacements strike slip displacement either along transcurrent faults or as a component of convergence played a very important if not dominant role in this assembly most terranes identified in the northern philippine appear to be plate fragments with attached crust and upper mantle their characteristics contrast with those usually interpreted for terranes in the north american cordillera where near orthogonal convergence and shallow dipping terrane sutures are favored

polyphase tectonics at the southern tip of the manila trench mindoro tablas islands philippines abstract the southern termination of the manila trench within the south china sea continental margin in mindoro is marked by a complex polyphase tectonic fabric in the arc trench gap area onshore southern mindoro the active deformation front of the manila trench is marked by parallel folds and thrusts grading southward to n50 w trending left lateral strike slip faults this transpressive tectonic regime active at least since the late pliocene has overprinted the collision of an early miocene volcanic arc with the south china sea continental margin san jose platform the collision is postdated by deposition of the late miocene early pliocene elastics of the east mindoro basin the tectonic and geological framework of this arc which overlies a metamorphic basement and eocene elastics suggests that it was built on a drifted block of the south china sea continental margin

evidence of continuous asian summer monsoon weakening as a response to global cooling over the last 8 ma abstract the asian summer monsoon asm is the dominant climate system of south and east asia however the history of monsoon intensification and the driving forces behind it are controversial wind blown sediments in mid latitude east asia and fluvial derived sediments in the northern south china sea imply contrasting asm patterns during the late cenozoic here we use pollen records from the southwest south china sea international ocean discovery program iodp site u1433 to reconstruct the asm evolution in low latitude southeast asia a slow increase in herbaceous plants since 8 ma indicates a persistent weakening of precipitation in indochina which is dominated by the asm this signal is closely associated with a consistent coniferous plant record indicating a continuous cooling trend that correlates well with sea surface temperature sst decrease in the west pacific ocean we propose that the monsoon weakening resulted in as much as a 25 reduction in precipitation over the past 8 ma in response to the northern hemisphere glaciation global cooling with some of the increase in conifers being linked to uplift of the vietnamese central highland and the se flank of the tibetan plateau in yunnan and northern vietnam

estimation of the magnitudes and epicenters of philippine historical earthquakes abstract the magnitudes and epicenters of philippine earthquakes from 1589 to 1895 are estimated based on the review evaluation and interpretation of historical accounts and descriptions the first step involves the determination of magnitude felt area relations for the philippines for use in the magnitude estimation data used were the earthquake reports of 86 recent shallow events with well described effects and known magnitude values intensities are assigned according to the modified mercalli intensity scale of i to xii the areas enclosed by intensities iii to ix a iii to a ix are measured and related to magnitude values the most robust relations are found for magnitudes relating to a vi a vii a viii and a ix historical earthquake data are obtained from primary sources in libraries in the philippines and spain most of these accounts were made by spanish priests and officials stationed in the philippines during the 15th to 19th centuries more than 3000 events are catalogued interpreted and their intensities determined by considering the possible effects of local site conditions type of construction and the number and locations of existing towns to assess completeness of reporting of these events 485 earthquakes with the largest number of accounts or with at least a minimum report of damage are selected the historical epicenters are estimated based on the resulting generalized isoseismal maps augmented by information on recent seismicity and location of known tectonic structures their magnitudes are estimated by using the previously determined magnitude felt area equations for recent events although historical epicenters are mostly found to lie on known tectonic structures a few however are found to lie along structures that show not much activity during the instrumented period a comparison of the magnitude distributions of historical and recent events showed that only the period 1850 to 1900 may be considered well reported in terms of magnitude distribution each earthquake is evaluated for its quality of determination based on the number of intensity reports earlier than 1850 the data collected are few and most earthquakes had fewer than ten reports good quality reports began to be collected from 1850 partly correlative to an increase in the number of towns and partly to the start of a systematized collection of earthquake accounts by the manila observatory parameters of these well reported earthquakes may be used for conducting various seismological studies examples of how the parameters of poorly reported events were arrived at are also discussed

the influence of oceanographic processes on contourite features a multidisciplinary study of the northern south china sea abstract this study examines how multiscale oceanographic processes interact with the seafloor to influence the development of contourite features in northern part of the south china sea the multidisciplinary approach used in this study combines physical oceanographic monitoring numerical simulation multibeam echosounding seismic reflection profiling and sediment core interpretation the contourites detected and interpreted herein include depositional drifts and sediment waves erosional channels moats and furrows and mixed erosional and depositional features terraces and irregular depressions this study finds that climatic variation influences the intensity of quasi steady along slope regional water circulation which in turn influences the long term development of primary 10 100 km contourite depositional systems energetic but intermittent oceanographic processes such as eddies and internal waves generate smaller secondary features within the contourite depositional systems resulting in a complex local seafloor morphology westward to south westward migrating mesoscale eddies locally enhance regional water mass circulation and trigger sub mesoscale flows which can generate 1 10 km irregular depressions along their paths westward propagating internal solitary waves form sedimentary waves with the aid of numerical modelling results a sedimentary model is proposed to explain how oceanographic processes influence sedimentary processes and determine a hierarchy of associated feature formation this model can help advance understanding of how bottom currents influence sedimentary processes along continental margins and abyssal plains

a new insight on the geometry of subducting slabs in northern luzon philippines abstract we used hypocentral and focal mechanism data in order to characterize the tectonic configuration of northern luzon and propose a model for describing the geometry of the subducted slab of the eurasian plate beneath the northern segment of the manila trench we took into consideration some of the observed bathymetric features i e the bend in the trench line of the manila trench at 20 n lat and the collision and subduction of an extinct mid oceanic ridge at 16 17 n lat and the intraplate deformation pattern in the north luzon ridge region in depicting a model that is consistent with most of the observed features and phenomena in the study area an earthquake catalog covering the period from 1619 to 1997 was used in studying the distribution of strain energy released while earthquakes covering the instrumental years 1963 1997 were used to analyze vertical distributions of earthquakes in sections we refined the location of some of the historical earthquakes using macroseismic data the inclusion of historical records despite their inaccurate locations could prevent misidentification of some regions as aseismic zones or gaps in seismicity especially along structures with long return periods a focal mechanism database that covers the period from 1963 to 1997 was used to decipher intraplate deformation pattern and subduction process of the slab the focal mechanism database consists of first motion solutions from previous authors and cmt solutions from harvard university seismicity strain energy release and focal mechanism maps and cross sections were drawn in order to have a three dimensional visualization of the geometry and stress regimes of seismogenic zones a new model of the subducted slab of the eurasian plate beneath the manila trench is proposed the model suggests the collision and subsequent partial subduction of a buoyant plateau at around 20 n lat to explain the sharp bend in the trench line the complicated deformation pattern on the overriding plate fronting the bend and the shallow dip of the subducted slab beneath this zone a tear in the slab is also inferred to be present as evidenced by the observed gap in strain energy release and the abrupt change in dip from shallow to steep south of 18 n lat the gap in seismicity and strain energy release 65 300 km depth at around 17 n lat may be used to infer the trajectory and location of the subducted extinct mid oceanic ridge mor the aseismic behavior is probably caused by the subducted ridge which is still hot and is deforming plastically this is supported by the heatflow data which shows high values along the extinct mor the subducted part of the mor may serve as the weakest zone where this tear could be localized the tear may also explain the cause of the abrupt termination of the eastern chain of volcanoes south of 18 n lat the above model which is a refinement of the model introduced by yang et al tectonophysics 258 1996 85 is consistent with the observed seismicity and deformation pattern observed bathymetric features spatial distribution and geochemical character of volcanism in northern luzon

structural variety and tectonic evolution of strike slip basins related to the philippine fault system northern luzon philippines the northern part of the philippine fault zone in luzon corresponds to a complex braided system of left lateral strike slip faults the nw oriented main active branch which emerges from the philippine sea splits into an array of north striking splays responsible for the tectonic evolution of the central cordillera this complex fault pattern has favored local stress field variations strike slip basins have evolved in this framework along or in the vicinity of the main splays of the philippine fault apart from the classical pull apart tectonics on a releasing fault termination overlap or bend we describe other mechanisms such as the strike slip tilting or the warping of a strip limited by two strike slip faults the strike slip basins are good recorders of the evolution of the philippine fault system those located along the north striking cordilleran faults individualized in late early pliocene to pleistocene time when the present day philippine fault initiated but their main control is the fault shape acquired in upper middle miocene time the recent tectonic evolution of the fault system is best recorded in central luzon where the active basins trace an asymmetrical v shape with the longest branch trending ne parallel to the east luzon trough and the shortest one trending nw related to the philippine fault both the fault pattern and the basin distribution demonstrate the influence of the benham rise in the tectonic evolution of luzon the structural setting is interpreted as the result of an early miocene collision event between the benham rise and the eastern margin of luzon and subsequent inception of the nw striking strand of the philippine fault the present locations of the basins result from the interaction between the structural heritage and the present day regional plate motion