North Luzon Trough

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The North Luzon Trough is a major geological feature located off the northern coast of Luzon Island between the Manila Trench and the Vigan-Agao Fault in the Philippines. [1] It is a well-developed forearc basin formed in front of the Luzon Volcanic Arc, an island arc system. [2] The trough is a result of the active subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate.

Geological formation

The North Luzon Trough formed as a result of the oblique convergence between the Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates.[ citation needed ] The Philippine Sea Plate is subducting beneath the Eurasian Plate at a rate of approximately 80 millimeters per year (3.1 inches per year). This oblique convergence creates a complex tectonic setting, with both compressional and extensional forces acting on the crust.

The trough itself is a forearc basin, which is a depression that develops in front of an island arc system. [2] The subducting plate releases fluids and sediments, which accumulate in the forearc basin. These sediments can be uplifted and incorporated into the island arc, contributing to its growth. The trough is a well-developed basin with active subduction into the Manila Trench system with complexities stemming from the offshore extension of the Philippine Fault System into the trough. Multi-channel seismic data suggests that the basin's sedimentary deposits resulted from multiple periods of emplacement and erosion. Today, the trough contains a relatively stable zone and a deformation zone characterized by compressional deformation characteristic of past tectonic activity in the trough. [1]

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The East Luzon Trough is an oceanic trench north of the Philippine Trench and east of the island of Luzon. The trench is located near the Philippine orogeny and located in the southeastern region of the Philippine Sea Plate. The depth of the trough is 5,700 meters. The East Luzon Trough formed during the Eocene and Oligocene epoch, 40–24 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryukyu Arc</span> Island arc between Kyushu and Taiwan

The Ryukyu Arc is an island arc which extends from the south of Kyushu along the Ryukyu Islands to the northeast of Taiwan, spanning about 1,200 kilometres (750 mi). It is located along a section of the convergent plate boundary where the Philippine Sea Plate is subducting northwestward beneath the Eurasian Plate along the Ryukyu Trench. The arc has an overall northeast to southwest trend and is located northwest of the Pacific Ocean and southeast of the East China Sea. It runs parallel to the Okinawa Trough, an active volcanic arc, and the Ryukyu Trench. The Ryukyu Arc, based on its geomorphology, can be segmented from north to south into Northern Ryukyu, Central Ryukyu, and Southern Ryukyu; the Tokara Strait separates Northern Ryukyu and Central Ryukyu at about 130˚E while the Kerama Gap separates Central Ryukyu and Southern Ryukyu at about 127 ˚E. The geological units of the arc include igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks, ranging from the Paleozoic to Cenozoic in age.

References

  1. 1 2 Armada, Leo; Hsu, Shu-Kun; Ku, Chia-Yen; Doo, Wen-Bin; Wu, Wen-Nam; Dimalanta, Carla; Yumul Jr., Graciano (2012). "Possible northward extension of the Philippine Fault Zone offshore Luzon Island (Philippines)". Marine Geophysical Research. 33 (4): 369–277. Bibcode:2012MarGR..33..369A. doi:10.1007/s11001-013-9169-5. S2CID   55285917.
  2. 1 2 Zhang, Ruixin; Li, Sanzhong; Suo, Yanhui; Liu, Jinping; Cao, Xianzhi; Zhou, Jie; Jiang, Zhaoxia; Li, Xiyao (2022-08-20). "A forearc pull-apart basin under oblique arc-continent collision: Insights from the North Luzon Trough". Tectonophysics. 837: 229461. Bibcode:2022Tectp.83729461Z. doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2022.229461. ISSN   0040-1951. S2CID   249965523.