South China Sea documents the transition from wide continental rift to continental break up.

ABSTRACT: During extension, the continental lithosphere thins and breaks up, forming either wide or narrow rifts depending on the thermo-mechanical state of the extending lithosphere. Wide continental rifts, which can reach 1,000 km across, have been extensively studied in the North American Cordillera and in the Aegean domain. Yet, the evolutionary process from wide continental rift to continental breakup remains enigmatic due to the lack of seismically resolvable data on the distal passive margin and an absence of onshore natural exposures. Here, we show that Eocene extension across the northern margin of the South China Sea records the transition between a wide continental rift and highly extended (<15 km) continental margin. On the basis of high-resolution seismic data, we document the presence

SUBMITTER: Deng H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7486367 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature