Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Mesozoic Rock Suites Along Western Philippines: Exposed Proto-South China Sea Fragments?, Graciano P. Yumul Jr, Carla B. Dimalanta, Jillian Aira Gabo-Ratio, Karlo L. Queaño, Leo T. Armada, Jenielyn T. Padrones, Decibel V. Faustino-Eslava, Betchaida D. Payot, Edanjarlo J. Marquez

Environmental Science Faculty Publications

An ancient oceanic crustal leading edge east of mainland Asia, the proto-South China Sea crust, must have existed during the Mesozoic based on tectonic reconstructions that accounted for the presence of subducted slabs in the lower mantle and the exposed oceanic lithospheric fragments strewn in the Philippine and Bornean regions. Along the western seaboard of the Philippine archipelago, numerous Mesozoic ophiolites and associated lithologies do not appear to be genetically associated with the younger Paleogene-Neogene ocean basins that currently surround the islands. New sedimentological, paleomagnetic, paleontological, and isotopic age data that we generated are presented here, in combination with our …