Crustal structure of northern Borneo from VDSS: Implications for
subduction termination and the tectonic reconstruction of SE Asia
Abstract
The post-subduction tectonic evolution of northern Borneo, which
experienced two sequential subduction episodes of opposite polarity in
the Neogene, is still widely debated with first-order questions such as
whether the region has been in a state of compression or extension
remaining unresolved. We use waveform data recorded from a dense seismic
network in northern Borneo to investigate crustal thickness variations
through the application of Virtual Deep Seismic Sounding (VDSS). The new
results reveal an extensive area of thin crust in central and
southeastern Sabah that appears to extend northeast into the Sulu Sea,
where rifting initiated. We also compute local earthquake focal
mechanisms, which suggest that extension is ongoing, though now
dominated by orogen collapse in the NW. Together these results point to
the pervasiveness of regional extension tectonics over the last 15-20
Myr and its role in the post-subduction cycle of plate tectonics in SE
Asia.