Some Characteristic Structural Types in Eastern Asia and their Bearing upon the Problem of Continental Movements

• Published in: Geological Magazine
• Main Author: Lee, J. S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1929
• Subjects: Geology; Pacific; Sakhalin
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016756800105400; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0016756800105400

Lastly a reference must be made to the nu-delta structures which characterize the contact zone between the continent of Eastern Asia and the floor of the Pacific. in the Sakhalin-Yezo-Kuriles system we find, by experiment, that the northern part of the system was pressed towards the continent to a greater extent than the southern part of it. This is a consequence to be naturally expected. In the Kuriles we find a succession of fractures which prove, beyond any doubt, that the region to the west of those lines effected a southerly or south-westerly horizontal shear against the Pacific. Such a movement not being parallel to the continental border, would necessarily arouse a lateral compression between the continent and the ocean base. Now since the southern terminus of the triangular area covered by the system lies against the Inshan zone which behaved as a strengthening rib on the part of the continental mass against lateral pressure, it would be extremely difficult for the southern apex of the triangular area to shift westward. On the other hand the northern part of the area does not encounter such extraordinary resistance. Consequently the whole area suffers a counter-clockwise twisting movement with the result that the nu-delta system was generated. In this way we are able to understand how the Sakhalin-Yezo-Kuriles system was produced through a southward movement of Eastern Asia.