Abstract:We analyze the effect of altimetry satellites applied to the gravity and terrain models simultaneously on the calculation of effective elastic thickness in the South China Sea. This effect may overestimate the effective elastic thickness. Comparing multiple studies, we infer that the effective elastic thickness in the Nansha islands is 9 km. By calculating the effective elastic thickness distribution in the South China Sea, we find that the minimum effective elastic thickness of the South China Sea basin is about 4 km, and the effective elastic thickness around the South China Sea is relatively high, with strong correlation to the spatial distribution of the age of the submarine lithosphere. It also conforms to the history of the expansion of the South China Sea basin.
GONG Zheng,LI Zhigang,HU Litian et al. Estimation of the Effective Elastic Thickness of the Lithosphere in the South China Sea[J]. jgg, 2021, 41(6): 572-576.