Tectono-thermal modeling of Cenozoic multiple rift episodes in the Bohai Bay Basin, eastern China and its geodynamic implications

The Bohai Bay Basin (BBB) is the largest Cenozoic rifted basin in eastern China, which exhibited a multi-episodic behavior. A 2D multi-episodic finite extension model is employed to estimate the stretching factor and strain rate for each rift episode along six seismic profiles. The modeling is based on a reconstruction of pre-rift crustal and lithospheric thicknesses, and is calibrated with the present-day heat flow and Moho depth. The pre-rift thicknesses of the crust and lithosphere are determined to be 34-39 and 80-105 km. The stretching factors range from 1.28 to 1.97, with a peak in the middle-to-late Eocene during which the average strain rate reached 1.1 x 10(- 15) s(- 1). Our analyses show that the centers of stretching migrated generally from south to north and from west to east during the Cenozoic. The results also indicate an inverse relationship between variations of the average strain rate and the relative motion rate between Pacific plate and Eurasian plate. Combining the results of the previous studies with ours, we infer that the changing subduction rate of the Pacific plate accompanied by episodic eastward retreat of the subduction zone plays important roles in the episodic extension of the BBB and eastward migration of the centers of stretching.