Marine geology and palaeoceanography / Морская геология и палеоокеанография

Basic data on the opening of backarc basin, South China Sea (abbreviated as SCS hereafter) basin, were obtained through a two-year Japan and China cooperative joint marine geophysical survey in 1993 and 1994. Some new gravity, magnetic and seismic structural data by reflection as well as refraction study of SCS were obtained and added to existing data. A systematic three component magnetic measurement was made for the first time in this basin. These data in addition to those of earlier studies are constraints for depicting a thinning of a continental crust and later followed by a backarc basin opening by ocean floor spreading. Gravimetric and magnetic anomalies, heat flow, and ages of drilled rocks from this area are referred to speculating on the opening scheme of SCS. Origin of disoriented and scattered magnetic anomaly lineations is suggested to be due to intermittent activities along opening ridge systems of SCS. <...>