Tectonic Significance of the Taitung Canyon, Huatung Basin, East of Taiwan |
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| Authors: | Jean-Claude Sibuet Shu-Kun Hsu Alain Normand |
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| Institution: | (1) Ifremer Centre de Brest, B.P. 70, 29280 Cedex, Plouzané, France;(2) Institute of Geophysics, National Central University, Chung-Li, 32054, Taiwan |
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| Abstract: | Since the beginning of formation of Proto-Taiwan, the subducting Philippine (PH) Sea plate has moved continuously through
time in the N307° direction with respect to Eurasia (EU), tearing the EU plate. The subducting EU plate includes a continental
part in the north and an oceanic part in the south. The boundary B between these two domains corresponds to the eastern prolongation
of the northeastern South China Sea ocean-continent transition zone. In the Huatung Basin (east of Taiwan), the Taitung Canyon
is N065° oriented and is close and parallel to B. Seismic profiles show that the southern flank of the canyon corresponds
to a fault with a normal component of a few tens of meters in the sediments and possible dextral shearing. Several crustal
earthquakes of magnitude >%6 are located beneath the trend of the Taitung Canyon and focal mechanisms suggest that the motion
is right-lateral. Thus, faulting within the sedimentary sequence beneath the Taitung Canyon is a consequence of underlying
dextral strike-slip crustal motions. As the continental part of the EU slab located north of B has been recently detached,
some subsequent dextral strike-slip motion might be expected within the EU slab, along the ocean-continent transition zone,
which is a potential zone of weakness. We suggest that the dextral strike-slip motion along the ocean-continent boundary of
the EU slab might trigger the observed dextral strike-slip motion within the overlying PH Sea crust and the associated faulting
within the sediments of the Huatung Basin, beneath the Taitung Canyon.
An erratum to this article is available at . |
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| Keywords: | Taitung Canyon right lateral strike-slip fault underlying slab deformation along trasition zone |
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