Fingered Intrusion of Shallow Saucer-shaped Igneous Sills： Insights from the Jiaojiang Sag, East China Sea

• Published in: Acta geologica Sinica (Beijing) 2013-10, Vol.87 (5), p.1306-1318
• Main Authors: Rui, GUO, Gongcheng, ZHANG, Jinwei, ZHANG, Xingbin, ZHAO, Junbang, LIU, Dawei, YUAN, Shuang, SONG
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: feeder relationship; fingered intrusion; flow inflation; Jiaojiang sag; lobate sill; Propagation; Saucer-shaped sill; 东中国海; 入侵; 岩浆侵入; 椒江凹陷; 水平传播; 火成岩; 碟形; 观测模型
• ISSN: 1000-9515; 1755-6724
• DOI: 10.1111/1755-6724.12130

An extensive suite of igneous sills was intruded into the Tertiary sedimentary section of the Jiaojiang sag, East China Sea. This suite has been well imaged offshore through 2D and 3D seismic surveys, showing a close relationship with CO2 content in nearby gas discoveries. A new observational model, which incorporates simple upward propagation, simple horizontal propagation, and transgressive propagation, was proposed to interpret these sill intrusions. In this model, the source magma of the saucer-shaped sills was injected from their lowest points near the center. The transgressive propagation can be interpreted as a combination of the vertical and horizontal propagation. Most shallow sub-volcanic intrusions in the Jiaojiang sag exhibit fingered characteristics, both vertically and horizontally. The vertical fingered propagation produced saucer-shaped sills arranged in the flower style. Along the brims of lower sills could usually be found the upper sills, which are interpreted to have formed simultaneously with or later than the lower feeder sills. In the second type, the chilled paths of the older sills were reutilized by subsequent intrusions. The horizontal fingered propagation formed sheet intrusions that exhibit groove, lobate, tubular, and crevasse splay- like geometry in plan view. In 3D view, the sheet intrusions have still preserved the lower center and higher rim that similar with the sub-rounded saucer-shaped sills. Although fracture propagation may be important, flow inflation was the key mechanism of magma intrusion. Further consideration of the mechanisms underlying sill formation may help explain the fingered characteristics of sill propagation.