--> Abstract: Comparison of Characteristics and Evolution of Two Submarine Canyon Systems in Two Cenozoic Post-Rift Continental Slope Basins Along the Northern Margin of the South China Sea, by Mangzheng Zhu, Stephan Graham, Timothy McHargue, Xiong Pang, and Yu Shu; #90039 (2005)

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Comparison of Characteristics and Evolution of Two Submarine Canyon Systems in Two Cenozoic Post-Rift Continental Slope Basins Along the Northern Margin of the South China Sea

Mangzheng Zhu1, Stephan Graham1, Timothy McHargue2, Xiong Pang3, and Yu Shu3
1 Stanford University, stanford, CA
2 ChevronTexaco, San Ramon, CA
3 CNOOC Limited-Shenzhen, Guangzhou, China

Although the Cenozoic submarine canyons in the Pearl River Mouth Basin and Yinggehai-Qiongdongnan Basin of the South China Sea are well imagined by both 2-D and 3-D seismic data respectively, the characteristics and development of these canyons are yet to be defined. The purpose of this study is (1) to quantitatively document the geometric variables of these submarine canyon systems, (2) to interpret the stratigraphic architectural elements of the canyons, (3) to investigate inception and evolution pattern of these canyons, and (4) to compare the submarine canyons in the two study basins.

The eastward migrating Miocene-to-present canyon systems on the slope of the Pearl River Mouth Basin have unique developmental patterns. These canyons are about 4 km wide and 300 m deep, and they were mainly fed by turbidity currents and/or bottom currents. Unlike submarine canyons in the Pearl River Mouth Basin, the muddy Pliocene submarine canyons in the Yinggehai-Qiongdongnan Basin were caused by slump and landslide events. These canyons have head scarps about several kilometers wide and deposition of mass transport complex fans at their toes.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005