Numerical modeling of the coupling between strike-slip faulting and sedimentation: A case from the Yangjiang Sag of northern South China Sea

To dynamically shape the fine geomorphic landscape of a basin is a key technology required in efficient oil and gas exploration. In this paper, the Yangjiang Sag in the Pearl River Mouth Basin on the northern margin of the South China Sea is selected as a case to explore the NW-trending Yangjiang-Yitong’ansha Blind Fault Zone(YYBFZ) and its control over the distribution patterns of Cenozoic depocenters in its periphery. Badlands’ numerical sedimentation simulation is used to quantitatively analyze the kinematic characteristics of the YYBFZ for further understanding the Cenozoic tectono-sedimentary coupling process of the Yangjiang Sag. The simulation results suggest that the YYBFZ was a sinistral strike-slip fault zone formed by the end of Eocene, and the strike slip process can be divided into two stages. The early stage is a slow strike slip stage, with a strike-slip displacement of about 800 m, and the depocenters of the Enping 19 Subsag migrate along the slip direction of the fault; In the late stage, however, the slip was fast and the displacement of the strike slip may reach the figure about 1200 m, and along the simulation section, obvious flower-like structures are observed. At the same time, the depocenters of the Enping 19 Subsag accelerated its move northward with rotation anticlockwise.