The continent-ocean transition architecture and breakup mechanism at the mid-northern South China Sea

Ocean Continent Transition (OCT) located between the edge of the continental and unequivocal oceanic crust is an ideal laboratory to understand one of the most fundamental processes of Plate Tectonics, namely the mechanism of formation of a new plate boundary, also referred to as lithospheric breakup. However, the location and architecture of the OCT and the processes governing the rupture of continental lithosphere and creation of new oceanic crust remain debated. In this paper, we present newly released high-resolution seismic reflection profiles that image the complete transition from unambiguous continental to oceanic crust in the mid-northern South China Sea (SCS), accompanied with IODP drill hole and gravity data, with the aim to map the OCT and explore where, when and how lithospheric breakup occur.

Based on observations and interpretations we define the limits of OCT. The results show that OCT corresponds to hybrid crust resulting from the complex interaction between crustal thinning along detachment systems and accretion of new syn-tectonic igneous materials. The observations suggest a sharp along strike transition in the OCT from a lower to an upper plate setting over a lateral distance of 25 km. The breakup in the northern SCS and the conjugate margin occurred asymmetrically and was accomplished by core-complex type structures related to a successive oceanward transition from tectonic to magma-controlled processes during plate separation. The along-strike variability in the basement architecture and the abrupt flip in detachment polarity in the OCT imply a sharp transfer fault to explain the segmentation of the margin. Such segmentation results from inherited pre-rift crustal and/or lithospheric heterogeneities. It is important to note that the segmentation did not control breakup and subsequent oceanic accretion.