Tectonic–climatic controls on the growth and drowning of carbonate platforms: evidence from the Tanintharyi Shelf, Andaman Sea

The Tanintharyi Shelf in the Andaman Sea, a key yet understudied segment of the Indo-Eurasian plate collision-related back-arc basin, hosts a Cenozoic carbonate platform with substantial hydrocarbon potential. This study integrates high-resolution 2D/3D seismic reflection data, well logs, regional stratigraphy, and global tectono-climatic records to systematically decipher the origin, morphological evolution of this platform, with a focus on tectono-climatic coupling mechanisms. Our findings reveal that the platform did not develop as a typical continental shelf-marginal rimmed system but on a fault-bounded restricted basement high as isolated patch reef. The evolution of the platform was governed by a trinity of coupled factors: (1) the rift tectonics provide basement highs as substrate; (2) the eustatic sea-level fluctuations drove aggradation-backstepping cycles and subaerial exposure; (3) and the Neogene Tibetan plateau uplift intensified Asian monsoons, increasing siliciclastic input through the Irrawaddy-Salween river systems, ultimately drowning the platform. This study establishes a predictive tectonostratigraphic framework for fault-bounded carbonate platforms in back-arc rift settings, linking far-field tectonics (Tibetan uplift), regional structural dynamics, and local sedimentary processes.