tectonic processes along the front of modern convergent margins research of the past decade at convergent margins oceanic crust descends beneath continental crust to form a complex crustal juncture this juncture begins at an ocean trench and can be followed deep into the earth as a zone of high seismicity created as the two crustal plates move past one another the places where oceanic crust descends into the earth known as subduction zones are highly dynamic features modern examples contain analogues for processes that created the now static remains of ancient margins exposed on land at the fronts of subduction zones where the descending oceanic crust is still relatively shallow exploration geophysical techniques can define the structure of sedimentary strata modern seismic reflection techniques can resolve 100 m intervals in the upper 2 6 km of a sedimentary section at trench depths drill cores of such sediment from trenches have been successfully recovered between about 0 5 and 1 2 km below the seafloor this review focuses on the advances in knowledge of the fronts of modern convergent margins where the structure and tectonic history can be so observed the review is in part historical because new findings of the past decade became increasingly difficult to explain without extensive modifi

biomarkers of oligocene lacustrine source rocks beibuwan song hong basin junction offshore northern vietnam abstract highly oil prone source rocks containing sapropelic type i and mixed types i and iii kerogen are found in 233 m of the 500 m deep fully cored enreca 3 well drilled on bach long vi island located at the junction between the beibuwan and the song hong basins offshore northern vietnam the cored succession is made up entirely by oligocene deep lacustrine deposits the origin of the organic matter om in 62 samples is evaluated on the basis of gas chromatography mass spectrometry gc ms and gc ms ms om in 55 samples is sourced primarily from lacustrine organisms and contains abundant 4 methylsteranes tetracyclic polyprenoids tpp and lycopane and no markers for marine organic matter the proportion of triterpanes derived from angiosperms is low in most saturated fractions and only traces of gymnosperm diterpanes are detected in contrast all aromatic fractions have a high proportion of compounds having an origin from both gymnosperms and angiosperms very high concentrations of hopanoids in both fractions suggest significant bacterial alteration of the original om most samples have a high concentration of rare c31 diaromatic 8 14 secohopanes with a fluorene moiety low pristane phytane pr ph ratios indicate that anoxic suboxic bottom water conditions existed during om accumulation the presence of carotane gammacerane and traces of arylisoprenoids could indicate a stratified water column om in a few samples with lower than average hydrogen index hi is mainly of terrestrial origin with a higher proportion of c29 steranes diterpanes and oleanoids and lower concentrations of both saturated and aromatic hopanes higher pr ph a higher c34 isohopane ratio ihr34 and a lower homohopane index hhi indicate that this low hi om was originally deposited under more oxic conditions and subsequently transported to deeper water low sterane and hopane isomerization ratios show that no samples have reached the oil window some novel maturity parameters for immature lacustrine samples are proposed

triterpanes and ring a degraded triterpanes as biomarkers characteristic of tertiary oils derived from predominantly higher plant sources abstract a number of oils previously proposed to be derived from terrigenous source materials have been obtained from the taranaki basin new zealand niger delta beaufort mackenzie region taiwan and indonesia and their c24 tetracyclic and c30 pentacyclic terpenoid distributions examined by gc ms and gc ms ms the c24 tetracyclic terpanes are thought to be derived from their corresponding c30 hopane oleanane ursane and lupane counterparts as previously reported a mixture of at least nine c30 pentacyclic terpanes are found to be present with remarkably uniform distributions in oils from these widely separated provinces whilst definitive structures have not been proposed for these compounds information has been obtained as to whether these pentacyclic terpanes are all six membered rings or contain one or two five membered rings the presence of this mixture of tetracyclic and pentacyclic terpanes provides a good indicator for oils derived from terrigenous source materials and in the case of these basins of tertiary age

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

anisotropic rayleigh wave phase velocity maps of the sunda plate abstract we explore the rayleigh wave phase velocity and shear velocity structures beneath sunda plate over a broad period range of 30 150 s and 5 100 km the two stations technique was used to measure dispersion curves from the waveforms of 19 233 teleseismic events 1998 2018 recorded worldwide by 75 broadband seismic stations spread around the sunda plate the interstation path specific dispersion curves are then inverted for high resolution isotropic and azimuthally anisotropic phase velocity maps in the frequency range 30 150 s as well as for shear velocity model between 5 and 100 km main findings include a strong dichotomy with fast velocities located beneath the south china sea and the sunda shelf compared with slow velocities found beneath the surrounding regions at short periods our model also exhibits very slow velocities beneath the hainan plume at lithospheric and asthenospheric depths the complex anisotropy in the region at shorter periods contrasts with the pattern observed at longer periods sampling the asthenosphere and is consistent with the absolute plate motions in the region

triterpane and sterane biomarkers in the ya13 1 condensates from qiongdongnan basin south china sea triterpanes and steranes in condensates from the ya13 1 gas field qiongdongnan basin were monitored the ya13 1 condensates have unusual biomarker distributions dominated by terpanes and steranes derived from higher plants anomalously abundant 1 got oleanane and remarkably abundant bicadinanes are present in the ya13 1 condensates whereas the 17alpha hopane contents are extremely low taraxastane and significantly abundant 17alpha diahopanes occur in the condensates in addition a number of unknown c 29 and c 30 pentacyclic triterpanes including previously unreported compounds were detected in the condensates some of which are significantly abundant the unknown compounds may be terrestrial biomarkers c 29 homologues are relatively predominant among the regular and rearranged steranes the diasterane concentrations are markedly higher than those of regular steranes the maturity of the ya13 1 condensates is relatively high at the peak to late oil generation stage corresponding to 0 85 1 10 ro based on sterane and terpane and including bicadinane maturity parameters i e t t 1 r and 2t r bicadinane ratios the above maturity assessment result is different from that based on diamondoid maturity parameters ro 1 60 1 70 org geochem 25 1996 179 which can be explained by a contribution of hydrocarbons from two sources at different depths the ya13 1 condensates were probably generated from the yacheng and lingshui coal bearing source rocks buried both in the qiongdongnan basin 3400 5000 m and in the yinggehai basin 5000 m the possible contribution of lower maturity hydrocarbons from the yacheng and lingshui formations 3400 4100 m in the qiongdongnan basin to the ya13 1 gases and condensates should not be neglected c 2003 elsevier science b v all rights reserved

deep scientific dives in the japan and kuril trenches abstract in the summer of 1985 during the french japanese kaiko program ten dives to depths of 6000 m in the japan and kuril trenches were made in the newly launched submersible nautile the sites of the dives were selected on the basis of surface geophysical surveys made during the preceding summer involving seabeam mapping geomagnetic and gravimetric measurements and single channel seismic profiling the results of the dives provide new constraints on the geodynamics of these subduction zones in the japan and kuril trenches huge slump scars were observed on the landward slopes of the trenches slumps produce a typical active erosional morphology with vertical or even overhanging cliffs in poorly consolidated material the slump scars allowed us to observe the internal structure of the margin the monoclinal structure on the northern japan trench margin deduced from the seismic profiles and dsdp drilling was confirmed several dives on kashima seamount confirmed that this volcano has recently been split into two parts by a normal fault system comparisons of lithology and paleontology on the two separated parts of the seamount were made deep sea clams colonies were observed from nearly 6000 m up to 5000 m on the landward slopes of the trenches it can be concluded that the whole margin is venting fluids from depths of 2 3 km which is consistent with the indications of overpressure observed in drill sites on the japan trench margin the fluids probably originate by dewatering of the subducting sediments and then migrate to the seafloor

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

possible causes for structural variation where the new hebrides island arc and the d entrecasteaux zone collide a major submarine mountain chain called the d9entrecasteaux zone dez collides with the central part of the new hebrides arc three migrated multichannel seismic sections obtained across this collision zone show considerable structural variability within slope rocks the subducted top of the north ridge of the dez can be traced beneath the accretionary wedge strata forming this wedge could be uplifted remnants of a wedge that predated collision or they could have been accreted from rocks that form the ridge crest large slope anticlines and major vertical offset faults are absent from the vicinity of this ridge therefore such structures do not necessarily form in collision zones between the two ridges of the dez rocks forming the accretionary wedge dip toward the trench and terminate obliquely downward at the decollement between arc and subducted rocks this attitude is unique to the collision zone and probably records the progradation of a flood of sediment eroded from nearby islands that underwent rapid uplift during the late quaternary near the south ridge deep ocean sedimentary rock curve upward and form the west and south faces of the bougainville spur a peak that towers over the rest of the lower arc slope an accreted guyot may underlie this spur fragmentary geologic and geophysical evidence suggests that the north ridge from which mid ocean ridge basalt has been dredged may be denser and stiffen than the south ridge which appears to be made up mainly of volcaniclastic rocks these differing physical properties of the two ridges probably determined the type of structures that developed within lower slope rocks

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

recent tectonics associated with the subduction collision of the d entrecasteaux zone in the central new hebrides abstract recent data from the new hebrides vanuatu subduction zone have enabled a morphological description and tectonic interpretation to be made of the complex plate contact between the d entrecasteaux zone and the west torres massif on the one hand and the old santo malekula block on the other between latitudes 14 30 and 17 s no trench occurs owing to the presence of the old rigid santo malekula block at the edge of the overriding plate the outer limit of plate contact describes a tortuous line westward of the projected line of the adjacent trenches this may be explained by local collision of the north d entrecasteaux ridge and the south d entrecasteaux chain with the west flank of santo this collision is compensated for by lateral plastic flow of the inner wall downward into the small basins which separate the d entrecasteaux zone ridges a process which may be explained by plastic plane strain theory the westward jump of the plate contact zone here may result from pieces of the north d entrecasteaux ridge being cut off and incorporated in the frontal arc a review of the geological evidence and the shallow seismicity of the central new hebrides shows that radiant horizontal stresses resulting from this collision have generated a specific compressive stress regime which influences the whole width of the arc the resultant deformation shows a close resemblance to a theoretical strain field produced by the indentation of a long narrow plastic body cf the arc by a rigid flat die cf the d entrecasteaux zone thus the central new hebrides block is both elastically bent under vertical stresses and plastically deformed and pushed eastwards by horizontal stresses recent uplift of the eastern chain can be explained by this model in contrast at the rear of both the northern and southern sections of the arc the tectonics are mainly controlled by a tensional stress regime the strong plate interaction due to the subduction of the d entrecasteaux zone is thought to be responsible for the compressive stress regime across the central new hebrides the same cause can be invoked to account for the tensional stress regime observed in north and south new hebrides rear arc regions

deep sea submersible survey in the suruga sagami and japan trenches preliminary results of the 1985 kaiko cruise leg 2 abstract nine submersible dives were made in three trenches off central japan between 2990 and 5900 m of water depth our observations confirm the interpretation that daiichi kashima seamount is a cretaceous guyot formed on the pacific plate that has traveled into the japan trench we also confirmed the previous interpretation of a large normal fault that splits the seamount in two halves the lower one being now subducting beneath the japan margin compressional deformation was identified within the lower part of the inner slope in front of the seamount the pattern of deformation that affects quaternary sediments is in agreement with the present kinematics of the convergence between the pacific plate and japan deep water 5700 m clam colonies are associated with advection of fluids driven by the subduction related overpressures in the northern slope of the boso canyon along the sagami trough system philippine sea plate japan boundary the deformation affecting a thick upper miocene to lower pliocene sequence indicates two directions of shortening a n175 e direction which is consistent with the present relative motion along the sagami trough n285 n300 e and a n30 e direction which could be related to a more northerly direction of convergence that occured during the early quaternary and earlier

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

normal faulting of the daiichi kashima seamount in the japan trench revealed by the kaiko i cruise leg 3 abstract a detailed topographic and geophysical survey of the daiichi kashima seamount area in the southern japan trench northwestern pacific margin clearly defines a high angle normal fault which splits the seamount into two halves a fan shaped zone was investigated along 2 4 km spaced 100 km long subparallel tracks using narrow multi beam seabeam echo sounder with simultaneous measurements of gravity magnetic total field and single channel seismic reflection records vertical displacement of the inboard half was clearly mapped and its normal fault origin was supported the northern and southern extensions of the normal fault beyond the flank of the seamount were delineated materials on the landward trench slope are displaced upward and to sideways away from the colliding seamount canyons observed in the upper landward slope terminate at the mid slope terrace which has been uplifted since start of subduction of the seamount most of the landward slope except for the landward walls aside the seamount comprises only a landslide topography in a manner similar to the northern japan trench wall this survey was conducted on r v jean charcot as a part of the kaiko i cruise leg 3 in july august 1984 under the auspices of the french japanese scientific cooperative program

the central myanmar burma oil family composition and implications for source abstract geochemical characteristics of 31 miocene through eocene oils seeps an eocene coal and an eocene resin from the central myanmar burma basin system are examined the oils seeps vary widely in api gravity 8 52 sulfur concentration 26 3550 ppm 13 c 27 6 to 23 4 and molecular composition this variability is caused by varying amounts of biodegradation superimposed upon a single genetic oil family and the difference between aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon carbon isotope ratios i e 13 c arom 13 c aliph provides a useful gauge of the extent of biodegradation the projected geochemical characteristics of unaltered central myanmar oils are as follows a api gravity 35 37 b s 0 05 0 10 c 13 c aliph 27 8 to 27 6 d 24 ethylcholestanes are the dominant steranes and e 20s 24 ethyldiacholestane various bicadinanes and oleanane are present the ratio of 18 h 22 29 30 trisnorneohopane to 17 h 22 29 30 trisnorhopane t s t m is postulated as a maturity parameter and on this basis relative bicadinane concentration increases and the trans trans trans cis cis trans bicadinane ratio decreases with increasing thermal maturity in this oil set geologic arguments suggest a deep paleogene source for these oils two geochemical arguments that support this inference are a the occurrence of saturated and unsaturated c 15 and c 30 cadinane monomers and dimers in pyrolyzates of an eocene resin and the kerogen from an eocene coal and b identical compound specific carbon isotope ratios for selected isoprenoids and n alkanes in a typical central myanmar oil and the hydrous pyrolyzate expelled from an eocene coal we propose an eocene resinous shale coal source for these oils with the oldest eocene reservoirs filling first and the youngest miocene reservoirs filling last consistent with the observation that the least mature oils are present in the oldest reservoirs according to this model surface seepage and near surface oil could result from subsurface traps that are filled to spillpoint

nankai trough and zenisu ridge a deep sea submersible survey abstract eight submersible dives between 3000 and 4200 m water depth were made off southern japan in the eastern nankai subduction zone benthic communities associated with chemosynthetic processes were discovered along the 800 m wide active tectonic zone at the toe of the accretionary prism a benthic community was also discovered along a zone of active compression at the foot of zenisu ridge 30 km south of nankai trough temperature measurements within the sediments below the benthic communities confirm that upward motion of interstitial water occurs there studies of water samples indicate advection of methane and light hydrocarbons specimens of the benthic community have been shown to have included in their shells carbonate resulting from methane consumption thus the benthic communities are related to overpressure driven fluid advection along tectonic zones with active surface deformation a 300 m high active scarp at the toe of the accretionary prism is related to relative motion in a 280 direction which is close to the 305 average direction of subduction in this area the dives establish further that compressive deformation is presently occurring at the foot of zenisu ridge the previous interpretation of the zenisu ridge as a zone of recent north south intraplate shortening 40 km south of the nankai trench is confirmed we conclude that tectonic evolution might well lead to future detachment of the zenisu ridge and overthrusting of this large piece of oceanic crust over the continental margin such a process might be an efficient one to emplace ophiolites over continents

geochemical application of sterane and triterpane biomarkers to a description of oils from the taranaki basin in new zealand abstract the distributions of sterane and terpane biomarkers in a suite of 25 oils from onshore and offshore regions of the taranaki basin of new zealand have been determined by gc ms features of these distributions include the presence of relatively high concentrations of a number of c 24 tetracyclic terpanes the virtual absence of tricyclic terpanes a predominance of c 29 normal iso and dia steranes and the presence of a number of non hopanoid triterpanes in one member of the suite urenui 18 h oleanane is the most abundant component m z 191 ion chromatogram of the terpane class of biomarkers based upon the distributions of 18 h oleanane the mckee and moturoa families of oils can be delineated these terpane distributions are qualitatively similar to those encountered in crude oils from a number of far eastern basins and from the handil field of the mahakam delta indonesia the taranaki oils are of approximately the same thermal maturity maturity parameters calculated from the distributions of c 29 steranes and of 17s h 21 h and 17 h 21s h hopanes confirm recent findings of incomplete nuclear isomerisation in oils derived from tertiary sediments an attempt has been made to correlate the mckee 1 and maui 4 crude oils with potential source rocks from depths of 3708 m and 3825 m respectively the rocks studied have attained insufficient maturity to have been the sources of these oils

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

spreading direction in the central south china sea recent work1 2 indicates that the south china sea is an atlantictype marginal basin of late tertiary age magnetic anomalies in the eastern part of the sea are consistent with seafloor spreading directed approximately north south1 2 we present here a new morphostructural study based on coupled seabeam mapping and single channel seismic reflection profiling which reveals dominant normal fault scarps striking n50 e between 113 and 119 e longitude near the axis of this basin such a structural fabric implies a nw se spreading direction at least in the 150 200 km wide axial region of the south china sea and places new constraints on geodynamic models for the formation of this basin in the tectonic and palaeogeographic framework of south east asia and the south west pacific

stratigraphic and structural evolution of the tertiary cosmelli basin and its relationship to the chile triple junction at the taitao peninsula in southern chile 46 5 s an active mid ocean ridge is being subducted under the south american continent continental crust south of the current triple junction has experienced subduction of three ridge segments since the mid miocene a series of mid late tertiary sedimentary basins lies inboard of the triple junction the cosmelli basin lies in the region which has experienced the earlier ridge subduction events within the cosmelli basin fill abrupt facies dislocations give clear evidence of marked base level changes four sequence boundaries are delineated with an upward increase in degree of facies dislocation which is believed to reflect increasing magnitudes of base level fall the lower part of the basin fill is folded and then thrust eastward as a series of imbricate slices while the overlying greater thickness of fluvial sediments is only gently tilted westwards this geometry indicates that the early basin fill was deforming due to contractional tectonics while the later basin fill was being deposited these processes controlled accommodation space and thus stratigraphic architecture during much of the basin life this complex basin history plus the presence of basaltic sheet intrusions may reflect the underlying slab history as successive ridge segments were subducted

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

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

estimation of the kinetics of geochemical reactions with geophysical models of sedimentary basins and applications abstract the configurational isomerisation and aromatisation reactions which affect the steroid and triterpenoid hydrocarbons present in most organic rich sedimentary rocks are good indicators of the thermal histories of these rocks the extents to which these reactions have occurred can be assessed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry analysis of the organic extracts of the sediment samples we have assumed the reactions can be described as first order and used the model of sedimentary basin formation by extension of the lithosphere to provide thermal histories for the integration of the relevant arrhenius and rate equations governing the reaction rates the activation energies and frequency factors of the reactions were derived by comparing the reaction extents predicted by the model with geochemical observations from basins northern north sea and pannonian basin formed by lithospheric extension which have not experienced major uplift these values were then used to test the thermal consequences of the lithospheric stretching model for nova scotian continental shelf to calculate the amount of uplift and erosion experienced by lower jurassic sediments in the paris and lower saxony basins and the geographical variation in heat flow in a sedimentary basin formed by lithospheric flexure in the foreland basin of alberta in all cases the figures so calculated appear geologically reasonable and receive support from other independent techniques for their estimation the calculated activation energies of all reactions and the frequency factor for aromatisation are chemically sensible the relative values of the frequency factors for the isomerisation reactions could be expected the more sterically hindered c 20 site in a sterane has a lower frequency factor than that for isomerisation at the less hindered c 22 site in hopanes however both values are very low 0 006 and 0 016 s 1 respectively for the back reactions and imply an entropy change of 282 and 271 j mol 1 c 1 respectively the transition states are therefore much more ordered than the reactants this could be the case if catalysis was important no significant variation in catalytic activity can yet be demonstrated in the rocks investigated here

origin of petroleum in bangladesh fewer than 70 exploration wells have been drilled in bangladesh 207 000 km2 mostly in the eastern onshore and offshore areas making it one of the least explored countries in the world tectonic developments have controlled the accommodation space available for sediment deposition since the early cretaceous collision between the indian plate and eurasia to the north of bangladesh and between the indian plate and the burma platelet on the east provided favorable conditions for development of oligocene miocene source rocks and miocene reservoir sands in eastern bangladesh the resulting jenam bhuban boka bil petroleum system is the most active system identified to date and is dominant in eastern bangladesh hydrocarbons likely also have been generated from the organic rich shales of the miocene bhuban formation the jenam bhuban boka bil petroleum system alone is responsible for the generation of more than 16 tcf of gas in place discovered to date mostly in the surma basin of the chittagong tripura fold belt several other petroleum systems have been postulated in bangladesh together the best technical estimate of the total resource base is about 61 tcf including reserves within the discovered fields anticipated field growth and new field discoveries with the exception of small bacterial contributions in some surface seep gases and two subsurface accumulations the gases of bangladesh are thermogenic modeling results indicate that the gases and associated condensates are sourced at peak generation depths of at least 6 km many of the gas accumulations are associated with retrograde condensates whose compositions are defined by two distinct source facies and by the solution exsolution effects of vertical migration most of the condensates possess molecular signatures that indicate a major hydrogen rich angiospermous flowering land plant contribution to the organic matter of their source rock s the carbon isotope ratios of the methane in the gases and the isotopic and molecular characteristics of the associated condensates indicate a distinct source facies for petroleums of the northern surma basin relative to those in the south these isotopic and molecular results when interpreted in light of the geological framework and our basin models suggest that the oligocene jenam formation is the major contributor north of 24 4 degreesn and that the miocene bhuban formation is the major contributor to the south

bicadinanes and other terrestrial terpenoids in immature oligocene sedimentary rocks and a related oil from the surma basin n e bangladesh abstract the aliphatic fractions and one aromatic fraction of outcropping oligocene rocks from the ne surma basin of bangladesh were studied by gc ms and compared with their subsurface equivalents and one oil sylhet from boreholes further south in the basin terrestrial biomarkers frequently encountered in these rocks whose biomass is dominantly woody include the triterpanes oleanane and bicadinane several tetracyclic terpanes and the sesquiterpenoids cadinane and cadalene the bicadinanes and their aromatized counterparts are found as major triterpenoid components only in the upper jenam formation where the richest horizons are interpreted to contain locally derived concentrations of dammar type resin excluded from dipterocarpaceae or similar tropical angiosperm trees vitrinite reflectance and geochemical maturity parameters indicate pre oil window maturity for the upper jenam outcrop allowing a temperature of less than about 90 c to be estimated for the formation of bicadinanes from resinous polymer cis cis trans bicadinane which is abundant in sylhet oil was not positively identified in any of the rock extracts although the distribution of bicadinanes is otherwise very similar

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

seabeam survey at the southern end of the manila trench transition between subduction and collision processes offshore mindoro island philippines abstract the morphological and structural study conducted at the southern tip of the manila trench reveals that convergence between the south china sea basin and luzon is accommodated differently depending on the nature of the subducted slab when the oceanic crust is subducted a simple accretionary prism fore arc basin pattern is developed conversely where the continental margin of this basin is subducted intraplate deformation is randomly distributed across the major part of the fore arc area which is fragmented into various crustal microblocks results of seabeam mapping and detailed geophysical surveying conducted at this subduction collision transition zone during the pop2 cruise with r v jean charcot are presented and discussed here and allow us a new insight into the mechanism of such a subduction collision transition zone

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

geochemistry grouping and origins of crude oils in the western pearl river mouth basin offshore south china sea abstract thirty seven crude oils and 20 source rocks were selected for detailed molecular geochemical and isotopic analyses in order to establish the genetic relationships between the discovered oils and various petroleum source facies in the western pearl river basin offshore south china sea four groups of oils were identified the group i oils distributed in the southwestern wc19 1 field of wenchang b sag are characterized by high abundance of 4 methyl steranes relative to regular steranes low abundance of bicadinanes and high 13 c values showing good correlation with the medium deep lacustrine source facies in the wenchang formation the group ii oils represent the majority of the discovered oil reserves in the study area including those from the qionghai uplift and the northeast block of the wc19 1 oil field these oils have moderate concentrations of c 30 4 methylsteranes abundant bicadinanes and low 13 c values and correlate well with the shallow lake source facies of the wenchang formation in the wenchang b and a sags the group iii oils found in the wenchang a sag and surrounding areas are devoid of c 30 4 methylsteranes with abundant bicadinanes and similar 13 c values to those of the group ii oils these characteristics show close affinity with the coal bearing sequence in the enping formation thus suggesting a coaly source for these oils the group iv oils found only in the wc8 3 field display intermediate chemical compositions between the group ii and group iii oils most likely from mixed sources in the wenchang a sag these oil source genetic relationships suggest dominantly short distance oil migration and thus strong source facies controls on the geographic distribution of oil and gas fields within the western pearl river mouth basin

continental margin tectonics forearc processes recent studies of convergent plate margins and the structural development of forearc terranes are summarized in a critical review of u s research from the period 1987 1990 topics addressed include the geometry of accretionary prisms coulomb wedge taper and vertical motion in response to tectonic processes offscraping vs underplating or subduction the response to oblique convergence fluids in forearc settings the thermal framework and the effects of fluid advection and serpentinite seamounts also included is a comprehensive bibliography for the period

on the building and classification of mountains physicists believe that known laws should suffice to explain the earth s behavior but the complexities of geology have defied simple explanation today three developments are helping to solve the problem first summary interpretations such as the centennial project of the geological society of america are being compiled of the upper 1 60 km of the earth s radius second new methods show the behavior at great depths in the earth third combining these studies suggests which physical laws apply at various depths in the mantle the pattern of convection by viscous fluid flow is becoming clear upwelling plumes start rifts which fragment the lithosphere subduction carries plates down in the strong lithosphere the coulomb navier laws of brittle failure apply and confine fractures to three types corresponding to plate boundaries other laws determine where island arcs form the idea that some large areas of the surface act independently of the surrounding areas is becoming recognized and simplifies analysis one large area which behaves independently lies in the southwestern united states these developments and the observation that most plate boundaries are elevated provide a means of applying laws of physics to classifying ranges including folded mountains island arcs rifts and ridges into three classes and many subclasses illustrated by examples

aliphatic and aromatic triterpenoid hydrocarbons in a tertiary angiospermous lignite abstract the hydrocarbon biomarker assemlage of a liptinite rich early tertiary angiospermous lignite has been characterized the biomarker fistribution for the lignite confirms the low maturity and previous paleobotanic interpretations the aliphatic hydrocarbon fraction consists predominantly of n alkanes showing a strong odd carbon predominance and numerous de a triterpenoids and triterpenoids derived from higher plants bacterially derived triterpenoids were represented primarily by homohopanes and hopenes the aromatic hydrocarbon fraction contains a series of mono di and triaromatic de a triterpenoids and mono tri and tetraaromatic triterpenoids derived from higher plants the concentration and abundance of monoaromatic triterpenoids containing one to three additonal degress of unsaturation have not seen previously observed in a single deposit as such a diagenetic scheme for angiosperm derived triterpenoids is presented which confirms and extends previous hypothesis

higher plant biomarker signatures of early eocene sediments of north eastern india abstract the biomarkers molecular fossils of paleobiota have been studied in detail from a coal bearing sequence of early eocene lakadong sandstone member of sylhet formation of upper assam basin ne india using gas chromatography mass spectrometry corresponding hydrocarbon source potential of the same unit has been studied using rock eval pyrolysis the rock eval data suggest dominant terrestrial land plant contribution i e type iii kerogen and the sediments of the section had entered the early stage of catagenesis the alkane and isoprenoid distributions are characterized by odd over even preference oep 1 1 1 2 of n alkanes and high pristane phytane ratio 2 9 7 6 which corroborate the rock eval data the distribution of aliphatic biomarkers is characterized by dominance of c24 tetracyclics over c23 tricyclics high concentration of des e hopane moderate to high c29 c30 hopane ratio extremely low oleanane index and low c35 homohopane index the extremely low oleanane index is correlated with a high degree of aromatization of oleanane skeleton favoured by acidic swampy depositional environment the presence of diterpanes at the base of the early eocene section indicates contribution from gymnosperms coniferales order of land plants whereas angiospermous biomarkers with oleanoid skeleton are also preserved this pattern subsequently evolved to angiosperm dominated towards the top of the section with no gymnosperm signature indicating possible climatic variation during the early eocene towards the top of the section presence of bicadinanes indicates contribution of dipterocarpaceae family of trees and advent of the evergreen tropical rain forest element in eastern india in early eocene similar to the pattern found in western india e g cambay and kutch basins

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

bicadinanes in oils from the surma basin bangladesh abstract bicadinanes c 30 pentacyclic triterpanes have only been reported in crude oils and sediment extracts from s e asia the present investigation indicates that they are also widely present in land plant derived tertiary oils from the surma basin of n e bangladesh oleanane is also abundant in these oils though its distribution does not correlate with those of the bicadinanes this is consistent with separate specific land plant sources for these two classes of triterpanes and with the formation of bicadinanes during maturation of polymerised angiosperm tree resin

an exceptional anticyclonic eddy in the south china sea in 2010 the highest sea level near the xisha islands in recent 20 years occurred during august 2010 satellite altimeter data indicated that the extreme event was largely due to an anticyclonic eddy whose amplitude exceeded 20 cm and size exceeded 400 km on 11 august 2010 cruise observations showed the eddy raised the center temperature by 7 7 degrees c at 75 m and vertically extended to 500 m eddy tracking showed it had a life span of more than 8 months and propagated far from the south of xisha islands such strong and long lasting eddy that moved northward for such a long distance was observed for the first time in the south china sea scs observational data from ctd xbt and the reconstructed three dimensional temperature and salinity were used to explore the eddy s features and vertical structure our analyses show the 2010 summer monsoon and current in the western boundary of the scs were largely altered after the 09 10 el nino event from may onward the wind blew northward and strengthened over the northwestern scs such wind drove a strong northward current along the western boundary which carried the eddy northward by advection from may to july energy budget showed during the eddy northward propagation the boundary current passed energy to the eddy which led to the continuing growth of the eddy in both strength and size