The purpose of the present study was to study the tectonics of the Yellow Sea. Although oil- gas exploration has been undertaken for more than 30 years in the southern Yellow Sea, the exploration progress has achieved little. There are three tectonic periods with near N–S trending shortening and compression (260–200 Ma, 135–52 Ma and 23–0.78 Ma) and three tectonic periods with near E–W trending shortening and compression (200–135 Ma, 52–23 Ma and 0.78 Ma) at the Yellow Sea and adjacent areas during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. The Indosinian tectonic period is the collision period between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze Plates, which formed the basic tectonic framework for the Yellow Sea area. There were strong intraplate deformations during the Yanshanian (200–135 Ma) and Sichuanian (135–52 Ma) periods with different tectonic models, which are also the main formation periods for endogenic metallic mineral deposits around the Yellow Sea. The three tectonic periods during the Cenozoic affect important influences for forming oil-gas reservoirs. The Eocene–Oligocene (52–23 Ma) is the main forming period for oil-gas sources. The Miocene–Early Pleistocene (23–0.78 Ma) was a period of favorable passage for oil-gas migration along NNE trending faults. Since the Middle Pleistocene (0.78 Ma) the NNE trending faults are closed and make good conditions for the reservation of oil-gas. The authors suggest that we pay more attention to the oil-gas exploration at the intersections between the NNE trending existing faults and Paleogene– Neogene systems in the southern Yellow Sea area.
In the Bohai Bay Basin and its adjacent regions(112°―124°E,34°―42°N),there exists abundant gas-petroleum while modern inter-plate seismic activity is robust.Although the tectonic structure of this region is very complicated,plenty of geological,geophysical and geochemical data and results are obtained through previous researches.On the basis of absorbing previous results,especially various kinds of geological and geophysical results,we collect and process the arrival time of P-wave phases of local events and tele-seismic events recorded by the station within this region from 1978 to 2004,build the responding initial model,and image the velocity structure of the crust and upper mantle of this region via tomography.The perturbation images of various depths and velocity profiles imply that the velocity structure of the crust and upper mantle in the Bohai Bay Basin and its adjacent regions is mainly influenced by the surface tectonic units,and is characterized by "Stripped along east-west,and zoned along south-north";some large-scaled faults penetrate Moho and lithosphere,and provide the channels for the basic lava or hot mass upwelling from the mantle.
ZHANG Ling LIU JinSong HAO TianYao LIU JianHua XU Yi
