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Post-rifting magmatism and the drowned reefs in the Xisha Archipelago domain

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Abstract

Fourteen isolated drowned reefs have been identified around the Xisha Uplift by multibeam and seismic data. The drowning processes of these reefs can be divided into three different stages, which correspond to three different accelerated tectonic subsidence periods. The drowning of the Xisha reefs is the result of the combined action of tectonic subsidence and sea level fluctuations, and the tectonic subsidence rate had to remain above 0.2 mm yr−1 for a long time. Three abrupt accelerated tectonic subsidence events that occurred in the late Miocene, Pliocene and early Quaternary in the Xisha Uplift were closely related to the thermal subsidence processes after three stages of post-rifting magmatism. The magmatism of the middle Miocene and the following thermal subsidence resulted in the drowning of reefs in the northwestern Xisha uplift (Zone A). During the early Pliocene, massive magmatic intrusions and volcanic eruptions occurred in the Xisha Uplift. Then, the subsequent thermal subsidence started the drowning process of reefs in the northeastern and western regions of the Xisha Uplift (Zone B and C). During the early Quaternary, large-scale magmatism also occurred in the Xisha Uplift. The subsequent thermal subsidence resulted in a new rapid tectonic subsidence, which caused the reefs in the southern and southeastern regions of the Xisha Uplift to drown (Zone D and E).

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their warm gratitude to all those who helped with this paper. The authors are grateful for the valuable suggestions provided by the two reviewers. This research was financially supported by the ongoing South China Sea deepwater project of Petrochina and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 91228208, 41106064), the International Project of Science and Technology Bureau of Hainan Province (No. ZDYF2016215) and the NSFC-Shandong Joint Fund for Marine Science Research Centers (No. U1606401). We thank LetPub (www.letpub.com) for providing linguistic assistance during the preparation of this manuscript.

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  1. Key Laboratory of Marine Geology and Environment, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Hongli Wang

  2. College of Earth Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Hongli Wang & Shiguo Wu

  3. Key Laboratory of Marine Sedimentology and Environmental Geology, First Institute of Oceanography, SOA, Qingdao, 266061, China

    Qiang Zhao

  4. Laboratory for Marine Geology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266061, China

    Qiang Zhao & Shiguo Wu

  5. Laboratory of Marine Geophysics and Deep-Sea Georesources, Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, 572000, China

    Shiguo Wu & Dawei Wang

  6. Hangzhou Institute of Petroleum Geology, PetroChina, Hangzhou, 310023, China

    Bin Wang

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Correspondence to Shiguo Wu.

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Wang, H., Zhao, Q., Wu, S. et al. Post-rifting magmatism and the drowned reefs in the Xisha Archipelago domain. J. Ocean Univ. China 17, 195–208 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-018-3485-y

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