Quaternary Intrusions from the Zhongjiannan Basin, South China Sea: Their Relationship with the Hainan Mantle Plume and Influence on Hydrocarbon Reservoirs

Abstract The transportation of magma in sedimentary basins often occurs through extensive dyke‐sill networks. The role of sills on the plumbing system in rifted margins and the impact of sills on hydrocarbon reservoirs of prospective sedimentary basins has long been an area of great industrial interest and scientific debate. Based on 2D seismic reflection, we present data on how the sills emplaced to form a magmatic plumbing system of the volcanic system for the Zhongjiannan Basin (ZJNB). The results show that sixty‐nine sills and fourteen forced folds have been identified. The distribution and geometry of the sills suggest that magma flowed from west to east and then ascended to near the surface. The onlap relationship of the forced folds indicates that the timing of magmatic activities can be constrained at ca. 0.2 Ma. The spatial and temporal occurrences of intrusions imply that the strong post‐rift magmatism in ZJNB was associated with the Hainan mantle plume arising from the core‐mantle boundary. Furthermore, these forced folds could produce several types of hydrocarbon traps, due to accommodation through bending and uplift of the overlying rock and free surface, but it is critical to evaluate the effect of such emplacement when setting exploration targets.