A geophysical study of the Manila Trench, Luzon, Philippines: 1. Crustal structure, gravity, and regional tectonic evolution

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The Manila Trench subduction zone is an active convergent plate margin between the South China Sea and the northern Philippines. The trench trends northerly and is associated with a volcanic arc, an east dipping Benioff zone beneath Luzon, and a well‐developed fore arc basin system. The Luzon Trough fore arc basins lie landward of the Manila Trench and contain up to 4.5 km of Cenozoic sediments. Offscraping and accretion of turbidite sediments deposited in the Manila Trench have resulted in the upbuilding and outbuilding of an accretionary prism which forms the seaward margin of the fore arc basin system. The uplifted Zambales ophiolite and its offshore extension form the landward side, of the fore arc basin. Multichannel seismic reflection profiles reveal that folding and thrust faulting of trench strata occur at the base of the trench slope. The major structural décollement at the Manila Trench usually forms near the unconformity separating the hemipelagic sediments from the turbidite sediments. Subduction and perhaps underplating of the basal hemipelagic trench sediments accompany the deformation and accretion of the overlying clastic deposits. Faulting and uplift occur within a narrow zone of the fore arc where seamounts associated with the relict spreading center of the South China Sea basin have presumably been subducted. North of Lingayan Gulf the fore arc is disrupted by active fault systems that trend north and northwest offshore from the Luzon Central Valley and from the southern Cordillera Central. Based on regional geological and tectonic observations, we infer that subduction probably began at the Manila Trench in late Oligocene to middle Miocene time. The long‐term average convergence rate at the Manila Trench is estimated to be between 10 and 20 mm/yr and may be slowing in the north owing to the collision of Taiwan with Eurasia.