Oceanic crustal structure and tectonic origin of the southern Kyushu-Palau Ridge in the Philippine Sea.

A new high-resolution velocity model of the southern Kyushu-Palau Ridge (KPR) was derived from an active-source wide-angle seismic reflection/refraction profile. The result shows that the KPR crust can be divided into the upper crust with the P-wave velocity less than 6.1 m/s, and lower crust with P-wave velocity between 6.1 km/s and 7.2 km/s. The crustal thickness of the KPR reaches 12.0 km in the center, which gradually decreases to 5.0–6.0 km at sides. The velocity structure of the KPR is similar to the structures of the adjacent West Philippine Basin and Parece Vela Basin (PVB), indicating a typical oceanic crust. Isostatic analysis shows that some regional compensation occurs during the loading of the KPR, which implies that the KPR was built mainly by magmatism during the splitting of the Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc and the following back-arc seafloor spreading of the PVB during 30–28 Ma BP. The absence of the thick middle crust (6.0–6.5 km/s) and high velocity lower-crustal layers (7.2–7.6 km/s) suggest that arc magmatism plays a less important role in the KPR formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]