The disappearance of the carbonate platform is the frontier and hot field of sedimentary research. The Lower Miocene Zhujiang Formation carbonate deposited in the Dongsha uplift of Pearl River Mouth Basin is the latest marine carbonate in China. The process of origin, development and perished of the Zhujiang Formation carbonate is controlled by the tectonic movement, sea-level change and provenance, the research of this pattern can be served as a classical case study in the South China Sea and even in the world. According to the calcareous nannofossils and planktonic foraminifer zones collected from the drilling core, the upper bond of the Zhujiang Formation and the Middle-Lower Miocene boundary are classified in the boundary between calcareous nannofossil NN4 zone and NN5 zone, the lower bond of the Zhujiang Formation and the Miocene-Neocene boundary are divided in the bottom of foraminifer N4 zone. The ages of the foraminiferal N4-N8 zones and the calcareous nannofossils NN2-NN4 zones are determined, the lowest and the topmost boundary are 23. 03Ma and 15. 97Ma respectively, and the seismic reflection is located between T40 and T60. The carbonate platform firstly formed in 21Ma, and then was submerged by mudstone in 16. 5Ma. Earlier Dongsha uplift was higher in the south and lower in the north. After 21Ma, because of subsidence of the Dongsha uplift, the function of the provenance to Zhu 1 depression was lost. Carbonate platform was developed in the north of Dongsha uplift which subsided quickly. At the early stage, there was a carbonate ramp. After 20Ma, the whole Dongsha uplift was submerged, and then extensive development of carbonate formations was start, including the transition from carbonate ramp to platform. As the settle expanded to the southern, the Dongsha uplift gradually changed to higher in the north, the whole platform expanded continuously to the southeast, the platform sedimentary is gradually shrinking to local reel flat complexes, the top of northern paleogeomorphic remanet fragmentary patch reefs. After 16. 5Ma, the center of subsidence had been migrated to Zhu 2 sag, then the fragments from northern and northwest prograde continuously to Dongsha uplift, ultimately led to the termination of the platform. Combined with the analysis of geological events in the Zhujiang Formation period, this paper argues that the demise of early carbonate rocks is due to the global sea level down to the lowest at this time, which accelerate the supply of sediment in the region. The limestone is directly submerged by the sediment from the north. The disappearance time of carbonate rocks (formed from 20 +/- 0. 5Ma to 18. 3 +/- 0. 5Ma) is controlled by the change of relative sea level, volcanic action of basement and the migration of subsidence center. The dead time of the late phase carbonate may be after the tectonic inversion and the growth environment of carbonate rocks has changed which are caused by clastic sediment from the north. Therefore, the terrigenous clastic injection, subsidence center migration, relative sea level changes and ancient landform control the growth and death of carbonate rocks.
