Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Characteristics and origins of middle Miocene mounds and channels in the northern South China Sea

  • Published:
Acta Oceanologica Sinica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Numerous elongated mounds and channels were found at the top of the middle Miocene strata using 2D/3D seismic data in the Liwan Sag of Zhujiang River Mouth Basin (ZRMB) and the Beijiao Sag of Qiongdongnan Basin (QDNB). They occur at intervals and are rarely revealed by drilling wells in the deepwater areas. Origins of the mounds and channels are controversial and poorly understood. Based on an integrated analysis of the seismic attribute, palaeotectonics and palaeogeography, and drilling well encountering a mound, research results show that these mounds are dominantly distributed on the depression centres and/or slopes of the Liwan and Beijiao sags and developed in a bathyal sedimentary environment. In the Liwan and Beijiao sags, the mounds between channels (sub) parallel to one another are 1.0–1.5 km and 1.5–2.0 km wide, 150–300 m and 150–200 m high, and extend straightly from west to east for 5–15 km and 8–20 km, respectively. Mounds and channels in the Liwan Sag are parallel with the regional slope. Mounds and channels in the Beijiao Sag, however, are at a small angle to the regional slope. According to internal geometry, texture and external morphology of mounds, the mounds in Beijiao Sag are divided into weak amplitude parallel reflections (mound type I), blank or chaotic reflections (mound type II), and internal mounded reflections (mound type III). The mounds in Liwan Sag, however, have the sole type, i.e., mound type I. Mound type I originates from the incision of bottom currents and/or gravity flows. Mound type II results from gravity-driven sediments such as turbidite. Mound type III is a result of deposition and incision of bottom currents simultaneously. The channels with high amplitude between mounds in the Beijiao and Liwan sags are a result of gravity-flow sediments and it is suggested they are filled by sandstone. Whereas channels with low-mediate amplitudes are filled by bottom-current sediments only in the Beijiao Sag, where they are dominantly composed of mudstone. This study provides new insights into the origins of the mounds and channels worldwide.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andresen K J, Clausen O R, Huuse M. 2009. A giant (5.3×107 m3) middle Miocene (c. 15 Ma) sediment mound (M1) above the Siri Canyon, Norwegian-Danish Basin: Origin and significance. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 26(8): 1640–1655, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2009.02.005

    Google Scholar 

  • Bull S, Cartwright J, Huuse M. 2009. A review of kinematic indicators from mass-transport complexes using 3D seismic data. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 26(7): 1132–1151, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2008.09.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen C T A, Wang Shulun. 1998. Influence of intermediate water in the western Okinawa Trough by the outflow from the South China Sea. Journal of Geophysical Research, 103(C6): 12683–12688, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/98JC00366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Hui, Xie Xinong, Van Rooij D, et al. 2013. Depositional characteristics and spatial distribution of deep-water sedimentary systems on the northwestern middle-lower slope of the Northwest Sub-Basin, South China Sea. Marine Geophysical Research, 34(3–4): 239–257, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11001-013-9191-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Hui, Xie Xinong, Van Rooij D, et al. 2014. Depositional characteristics and processes of alongslope currents related to a seamount on the northwestern margin of the Northwest Sub-Basin, South China Sea. Marine Geology, 1: 36–53, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2014.05.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Hui, Xie Xinong, Zhang Wenyan, et al. 2016. Deep-water sedimentary systems and their relationship with bottom currents at the intersection of Xisha trough and Northwest Sub-Basin, South China Sea. Marine Geology, 1: 101–113, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2015.11.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Jiangxin, Song Haibin, Guan Yongxian, et al. 2015. Morphologies, classification and genesis of pockmarks, mud volcanoes and associated fluid escape features in the northern Zhongjiannan Basin, South China Sea. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 1: 106–117, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2015.11.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Lei, Lu Yongchao, Wang Zhenfeng, et al. 2011. Structure of carbonate platform margin and characteristics of reef and their controlling factors in western deep-water region of South China Sea. Petroleum Geology and Experiment (in Chinese), 33(6): 607–612

    Google Scholar 

  • Dercourt J, Gaetani M, Vrielynck B, et al. 2000. Atlas Peri-Tethys: Palaeogeographical Maps. Paris, France: Commission for the Geological Map of the World, 268.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duque-Caro H. 1990. Neogene stratigraphy, paleoceanography and paleobiogeography in Northwest South America and the evolution of the Panama Seaway. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 77(3–4): 203–234, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-0182(90)90178-A

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flood R D. 1988. A lee wave model for deep-sea mudwave activity. Deep Sea Research, 35(6): 973–983, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0198-0149(88)90071-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flood R D, Giosan L. 2002. Migration history of a fine-grained abyssal sediment wave on the Bahama Outer Ridge. Marine Geology, 192(1–3): 259–273, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0025-3227(02)00558-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gong Chenglin, Wang Yingmin, Peng Xuechao, et al. 2012. Sediment waves on the South China Sea Slope off southwestern Taiwan: Implications for the intrusion of the Northern Pacific Deep Water into the South China Sea. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 32(1): 95–109, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2011.12.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gong Chenglin, Wang Yingmin, Zheng Rongcai, et al. 2016. Middle Miocene reworked turbidites in the Baiyun Sag of the Pearl River Mouth Basin, northern South China Sea margin: Flow processes, genesis, and implications. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 1: 116–129, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2016.06.025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He Yunlong, Xie Xinong, Kneller B C, et al. 2013. Architecture and controlling factors of canyon fills on the shelf margin in the Qiongdongnan Basin, northern South China Sea. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1: 264–276, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2012.03.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández-Molina F J, Campbell S, Badalini G, et al. 2017. Large bed-forms on contourite terraces: Sedimentary and conceptual implications. Geology, 46(1): 27–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang Hongguang, Lu Yongchao, Zou Zhuochao. 2012. Application of seismic sedimentology in platform edge reef, Songnan 3D area, Qiongdongnan Basin. Petroleum Geology & Experiment (in Chinese), 34(1): 25–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiang Tao, Xie Xinong, Wang Zhenfeng, et al. 2013. Seismic features and origin of sediment waves in the Qiongdongnan Basin, northern South China Sea. Marine Geophysical Research, 34(3–4): 281–294, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11001-013-9198-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keigwin L. 1982. Isotopic paleoceanography of the Caribbean and east Pacific: Role of Panama uplift in late Neogene time. Science, 217(4557): 350–352, doi: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.217.4557.350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhnt W, Holbourn A, Hall R, et al. 2004. Neogene history of the Indonesian throughflow. In: Clift P, Kuhnt W, Wang Pinxian, Hayes D, eds. Continent-Ocean Interactions within East Asian Marginal Seas. Washington, DC, USA: American Geophysical Union, 299–320.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Li Hu, Wang Yingmin, Zhu Weilin, et al. 2013. Seismic characteristics and processes of the Plio-Quaternary unidirectionally migrating channels and contourites in the northern slope of the South China Sea. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1: 370–380, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2012.12.010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li Yufeng, Pu Renhai, Fan Xiaowei, et al. 2017a. Characteristics and genesis of the polygonal fault system in Beijiao Sag of the Qiongdongnan Basin, the Northern South China Sea. Geotectonica et Metallogenia (in Chinese), 41(5): 817–828

    Google Scholar 

  • Li Yufeng, Pu Renhai, Qu Hongjun, et al. 2017b. The characteristics and genesis analysis of the mound at the top of Meishan Formation in the Beijiao Sag of the Qiongdongnan Basin. Haiyang Xuebao (in Chinese), 39(5): 89–102

    Google Scholar 

  • Li Yufeng, Pu Renhai, Qu Hongjun, et al. 2018. Distribution of bottom current channels and mounds controlled by Paleo-Morphology in Mid-Miocene in Beijiao Sag of Qiongdongnan Basin. Geological Science and Technology Information (in Chinese), 37(2): 1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Liao Jihua, Xu Qiang, Chen Ying, et al. 2016. Sedimentary characteristics and genesis of the deepwater channel system in Zhujiang Formation of Baiyun-Liwan Sag. Earth Science (in Chinese), 41(6): 1041–1054

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu Siqing, Zhang Cuimei, Sun Zhen, et al. 2016. Characteristics and significances of the geological boundary SB21 in the Zhujiang Formation of the Liwan Sag, Pearl River Mouth Basin. Earth Science (in Chinese), 41(3): 475–486

    Google Scholar 

  • Ma Yubo, Wu Shiguo, Gu Mingfeng, et al. 2010. Seismic reflection characteristics and depositional model of carbonate platforms in Xisha sea area. Haiyang Xuebao (in Chinese), 32(4): 118–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Masson D G, Harbitz C B, Wynn R B, et al. 2006. Submarine landslides: processes, triggers and hazard prediction. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences, 364(1845): 2009–2039, doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2006.1810

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meng Xiangjun, Zhang Xunhua, Han Bo, et al. 2012. The geophysical characteristics of submarine mud volcano. Marine Geology Frontiers (in Chinese), 28(12): 6–9, 45

    Google Scholar 

  • Pu Renhai, Zhong Hongli, Zhang Yunlong. 2013. Preliminary study on the effects of Permian volcanism on the Tahe Ordovician oil pools in Tarim Basin. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1: 13–20, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2013.03.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ru K, Pigott J D. 1986. Episodic rifting and subsidence in the South China Sea. AAPG Bulletin, 70(9): 1136–1155

    Google Scholar 

  • Shao Lei, Cui Yuchi, Qiao Peijun, et al. 2017. Sea-level changes and carbonate platform evolution of the Xisha Islands (South China Sea) since the early Miocene. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 1: 504–516, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.07.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shao Lei, Li Xuejie, Geng Jianhua, et al. 2007. Deep water bottom current deposition in the northern South China Sea. Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences, 50(7): 1060–1066, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-007-0015-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stow Dorrik A V, Armishaw Julie E, Holmes Richard. 2002. Holocene contourite sand sheet on the Barra Fan slope, NW Hebridean margin. Geological Society London Memoirs, 22(1): 99–119, doi: https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.MEM.2002.022.01.09

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stuart J Y, Huuse M. 2012. 3D seismic geomorphology of a large Plio-Pleistocene delta—‘Bright spots’ and contourites in the Southern North Sea. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 38(1): 143–157, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2012.06.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun Qiliang, Cartwright J, Lüdmann T, et al. 2017. Three-dimensional seismic characterization of a complex sediment drift in the South China Sea: Evidence for unsteady flow regime. Sedimentology, 64(3): 832–853, doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/sed.12330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun Qiliang, Cartwright J, Wu Shiguo, et al. 2016. Submarine erosional troughs in the northern South China Sea: Evidence for Early Miocene deepwater circulation and paleoceanographic change. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1: 75–91, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.06.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tian Jie, Wu Shiguo, Lv Fuliang, et al. 2015. Middle Miocene mound-shaped sediment packages on the slope of the Xisha carbonate platforms, South China Sea: Combined result of gravity flow and bottom current. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 122(2015): 172–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsuchi R. 1997. Marine climatic responses to Neogene tectonics of the Pacific Ocean seaways. Tectonophysics, 281(1–2): 113–124, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-1951(97)00163-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Chao, Lu Yongchao, Du Xuebin, et al. 2015. Developmental pattern and genetic background of carbonate platform margin reef complexes in deep-water area in western South China Sea. Oil Geophysical Prospecting (in Chinese), 50(6): 1179–1189

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson J L. 1975. Carbonate Facies in Geologic History. New York: Springer-Verlag Press, 451–471.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wu Shiguo, Yang Zhen, Wang Dawei, et al. 2014. Architecture, development and geological control of the Xisha carbonate platforms, northwestern South China Sea. Marine Geology, 1: 71–83, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2013.12.016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu Shiguo, Yuan Shengqiang, Zhang Gongcheng, et al. 2009. Seismic characteristics of a reef carbonate reservoir and implications for hydrocarbon exploration in deepwater of the Qiongdongnan Basin, northern South China Sea. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 26(6): 817–823, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2008.04.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xie Xinong, Müller R D, Li Sitian, et al. 2006. Origin of anomalous subsidence along the northern south china sea margin and its relationship to dynamic topography. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 23(7): 745–765, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2006.03.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xue Huijie, Chai Fei, Neal Pettigrew, et al. 2004. Kuroshio intrusion and the circulation in the South China Sea. Journal of Geophysical Research, 109(C2): C02017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang Bo, Zhang Changmin, Li Shaohua, et al. 2014. Seismic facies analysis and geological interpretation of large-scale mounds in Pearl River Mouth Basin. Acta Petrolei Sinica (in Chinese), 35(1): 37–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Yi Wanshun, Deng Yantao, Di Bangrang. 2012. Discussion on the genesis of domal reflections at the uplift zone of the southern Qiongdongnan Basin. Geophysical Prospecting for Petroleum (in Chinese), 51(2): 199–203

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Bin, Wang Pujun, Zhang Gongcheng, et al. 2013. Cenozoic volcanic rocks in the Pearl River Mouth and Southeast Hainan Basins of South China Sea and their implications for petroleum geology. Petroleum Exploration and Development, 40(6): 704–713, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1876-3804(13)60095-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Gongcheng. 2010. Tectonic evolution of deepwater area of northern continental margin in South China Sea. Acta Petrolei Sinica (in Chinese), 31(4): 528–533, 541

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Gongcheng, Liu Zhen, Mi Lijun, et al. 2009. Sedimentary evolution of Paleogene series in deep water area of Zhujiangkou and Qiongdongnan Basin. Acta Sedimentologica Sinica (in Chinese), 27(4): 632–641

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Yonggui, Song Zaichao, Zhou Xiaojin, et al. 2011. Identification of reef in Miocene, South of Qiongdongnan Basin. Petroleum Geology & Experiment (in Chinese), 33(3): 307–309, 313

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao Tianliang, Pu Renhai, Qu Hongjun, et al. 2013. An origin discussion of mound-shaped reflections in Miocene, southern Qiongdongnan Basin. Haiyang Xuebao (in Chinese), 35(4): 112–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu Mangzheng, Graham S, Pang Xiong, et al. 2010. Characteristics of migrating submarine canyons from the middle Miocene to present: Implications for paleoceanographic circulation, northern South China Sea. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 27(1): 307–319, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2009.05.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment and Resource, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China

    Yufeng Li & Xueqin Zhao

  2. State Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Xi’an, 710069, China

    Yufeng Li, Renhai Pu & Hongjun Qu

  3. Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi’an, 710069, China

    Yufeng Li, Renhai Pu & Hongjun Qu

  4. Key Laboratory of Marine Mineral Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources, Guangzhou, 510075, China

    Yufeng Li

  5. CNOOC Research Institute Co., Ltd., Beijing, 100028, China

    Gongcheng Zhang & Huailei Shen

Authors
  1. Yufeng Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gongcheng Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Renhai Pu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Hongjun Qu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Huailei Shen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Xueqin Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Renhai Pu.

Additional information

Foundation item: The National Science and Technology Major Project of China under contract Nos 2011ZX05025-006-02 and 2016ZX05026-007; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41390451 and 41672206; the Doctoral Fund of Southwest University of science and technology under contract No. 18zx711901; the Fund of Key Laboratory of Marine Mineral Resources of Ministry of Natural Resources under contract No. KLMMR-2018-B-07.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, Y., Zhang, G., Pu, R. et al. Characteristics and origins of middle Miocene mounds and channels in the northern South China Sea. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 40, 65–80 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-021-1759-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-021-1759-5

Key words

Search

Navigation