Seismic facies response of tectonics and direction of block movement in the northeastern South China Sea

The close relationship between the structure, evolution, and resources environment of the South China Sea is a current research focus and also a focal point of our study. In this paper, we use regional seismic sections to analyze the relationship between seismic facies and the structure and tectonic evolution of the northeastern South China Sea and propose new points about the structure and the direction of block (land mass) motion. First, the tectonic features are clear and can be divided into five different structural units which are both linked and independent of each other. Second, it doesn't matter if the South China Sea basin pattern is extensional, weakly compressive, or strongly compressive, the regional tectonic stress field is unified. For the first time we find that two shallow subduction zones are recognized in the seismic profiles. All the tectonic blocks have accordion-fold-style structures, converging in the east, and the South China Sea exhibits different stages of basin development: growth, maturity, end, and termination. The block subduction and regional block dip directions are all aligned with the regional stress field.