Course:EOSC311/2020/The Geology of the South China Sea

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Mark Castonguay

The Connection between Geology, Geography, and International Relations in the South China Sea

The South China Sea is a marginal sea located south of China, east of Vietnam, and West of the Philippines. It is a highly biodiverse sea with multiple coral atolls. It is a significant socio-economic factor to those living near the coastline as it is the source of their food (fish) and livelihoods. In the 21st century, the sea has gained large geopolitical importance in the field of international relations because of its large abundance of natural resources, including oil, natural gas, and rare earth minerals. The discovery of its natural resources occurred in the latter half of the 20th century. The locations of most reserves are in international waters beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of countries. China has been attempting to make claims to these resources through acquiring islands and refurbishing coral reefs into military bases breaking the United Nations conventions on the international seas. The convention breach has had no effect due to a lack of an international governing body for the seas and global superpowers such as the United States, seek to avoid confrontation with China. The neglection of the issue has cause China to gain a strong influence on Southeast Asian countries, coercing them to agree with their sovereignty claims and not acknowledge the ever-growing military presence in the area.

The connection to geology is the natural resources in the area. Without the development of oil, gas, and minerals, there would be no international conflict. The reason why the South China Sea is so rich in natural resources is from a long history of plate tectonics and marine ecosystems. Over millions of years with the opening and closing, and sub-ducting of ancient seas and the reactivation of old fault lines, natural fuel reserves developed. Geological practices are essential to the detection of the natural resource reserves.

The connection to geography (environment and sustainability) is the harsh implications of geological resource extraction on the environment, the burning of fossil fuels, and how it impacts our environment. Increased militarization has impacted emissions and pollution in the area. There has been vast socio-economic impacts on civilians' livelihoods in the area and created a current threat to ecosystem integrity and sustainability.

This topic is an area of growing importance in international relations, with many predicting future conflicts between China and the United States over the South China Sea. To fully understand the issue, we must look at the geological past to understand how the location became of great importance through the creation of natural resources through ancient ecosystems, plate tectonics, and sedimentation.

Tectonic History of the South China Sea Basin

Figure 1: Image depicting the ancient Paleotethys sea. It is considered the precursor of the south China Sea. When Northern China and Southern China collided, the northern boundary of the Paleotethys was closed, initiating the formation of the South China sea.

Mesozoic Period

The basins of the South China sea were created during the Mesozoic period. Before its creation, the Paleotethys sea was the dominant feature in the area. The closure of this sea occurred from a series of collisions between Indochina and Gondwana[1].

The Paleotethy's northern reaches were closed off from a collision between Northern and Southern China [1]. Today remains the Qinling-Dabie-Sulu-Orogeny, which has high concentrations in Diamonds due to immense pressure from tectonic activity. In the early Mesozoic, deformations occurred in southeast China from the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific-Plate

Three occurrences of marine deposition occurred during the Mesozoic period, which is essential to the development of fossil fuels in the area. The first occurred during the early Triassic period when the Triassic Orogeny disrupted the Paleotethyan sea through multiple continental collisions at the time[2]. The second phase started in the early Jurassic paleo-pacific transgression. Rising sea-floors in the southeast, coupled with high levels of magmatism, interrupted coastal and shallow marine deposits[3]. The final deposits occurred up until the early cretaceous, specifically in the paleo-pacific trench[3].

The Paleotethys reached these areas, contributing to the first step in oil formation in the area through the deposition of marine life and organic matter [4]. Strata from the Mesozoic period in the Northern Regions of the South China Sea indicate long organic depositional periods demonstrating its carbonic sequences [4]. On the northern margin of the current South China Sea, a transition from a passive continental margin to an active one occurred 100 million years ago from the Paleo-Pacific subduction shifting eastwards coupled with continental extension resulting from the collision of the China-Indochina margin with the West Philippine block.[5]

The Mesozoic period left many collisional and subduction boundaries relatively weak. These boundaries reactivated to form fault lines. The Tan-Lu fault, the Jiaxiang Fault, the Red River Fault, and the coastal faults in the Cathaysian blocks are responsible for the formation of the South China Sea basins in the Cenozoic Period.[6]

Cenozoic Period

In the early Cenozoic, continental expansion occurred, creating continental margin rifting and subsidence areas where the South China Sea exists today [7]. These subsidence zones then developed into a series of sedimentary basins. The continued expansions of the continents in the northern boundary ultimately led to the seafloor spreading in this area [8]. The opening of the South China Sea occurred from a rifting phase in the Qiongdongnan Basin during the Eocene and early Oligocene [9]. When The seafloor spreading stopped is in constant debate. Many insist that it lasted from 32 ma -16 ma.[9] Today the South China sea is regarded as an oceanic basin similar to the Atlantic Ocean, due to continental rifting. The South China Sea is however much younger, and the subsidence is less dramatic when compared to the Atlantic. [10]

Not all the answers remain about the opening of the South China Sea. Many contests that the oceanic spreading was one ongoing event, while others contest that it was a series or multiple events. There is further questioning on how the basins opened up and what sequence they were in. It is agreed upon that continental breakup in the South China Sea led to its development. Current debates continue about how the continental breakup was triggered.

Resource Reserves

The South China Sea is distinguishable from other marginal seas due to its high and dense concentration of natural resources in a relatively small area. Although tectonic activity and marine deposits are the dominant forces, local geography and climate play a role. Monsoon season brings a fluctuation of bio productivity and nutrient dynamics. [11] The nature of the South China Sea Basin allows limited carbon exchange with the open oceans, creating a different carbon cycle.[11] These two features allow for the South China Sea to develop its own unique set of carbon reservoirs that differ from most secluded seas.

Special Events have happened in recent history in the South China Sea, which has led to the development of hydrocarbons reservoirs. Throughout the Miocene, a biogenic bloom occurred and has contributed to carbonic reservoirs and high levels of oceanic productivity in the last 3 million years. Other biological/oceanic processes may have occurred in the past contributing to the number of oil reserves. [11]

Petroleum Reserves

Most Natural resources in the area are derived from pre-Cenozoic areas. More than 1000 wells have been drilled, with 120 commercial oil and gas fields, and over 120 petroleum structures are currently present in the South China Sea[12]. The Source rock is predominantly Eocene Synrift deep lake deposition, and the reservoir rocks are Miocene sandstones.[13] In the deepwater basins, there have been multiple different types of source rocks, bearing different fossil fuels. The Eocene Synrift lacustrine source rock occurs in the shelf basins of the South China Sea.[14] These are known to possess primarily oil.

Natural Gas Reserves

During the Oligocene, carbonate platforms opened up during the opening of the South China Sea, which accounts for the predominant Oligocene gas generative coal-bearing source rocks [14]. The transitional terrestrial-marine environment, coupled with the carbonate platforms, accounts for the build of coal and natural gas in these regions. Miocene sediments produce the third type of source rocks in the region. These sources are post-marine shift source rocks, which are supposed to be in the deepwater basins of the South China Sea and may have significant coal and natural gas reserves [15]. In pre-paleocene sediments hydrocarbons are abundant. The hydrocarbon development could be attributed to the Palaeocene rocks directly, while others suggest the hydrocarbons formed in Cenozoic rocks and migrated towards the older rocks.

Mineral Reserves

The local tectonic plates around the South China sea have already bared formidable locations for mineral development, with diamonds in the Qinling–Dabie–Sulu orogeny due to its extreme high pressures. The South China Sea bares a multitude of wealth in rare earth minerals. In recent geological time (Pleistocene and Holocene), there has been an accumulation of coastal placer deposits in the South China Sea [16]. Among these deposits is gold. Most commonly, these coastal deposits are located downstream of well known on land gold locations. Deposits are constrained in different sediment grain size. In fine-grain sizes, quartz has been found, in middle-sized grain magnetite occurs, and zircon in coarse grain sediments.[17] Many materials are mined for high titanium and rare earth elements. Further away from the coastal rock formations bear ferromanganese modules .

The most heavily mined minerals in the South China Sea include titaniferous magnetite, zircon, monazite, tin, gold, and chromite [17]. These minerals are generally found near the coast of the South China sea. Deeper in the seabed, there is a continuation of the heavier based metals such as gold, platinum, and chromite [17]. A resource of significant importance to China is phosphor, used as fertilizer and chemicals. Within the South China Sea, there are significant deposits of phosphorite [18].

Geopolitics of South China Sea

Imperial Japan

The South China Sea was not always under the influence of China. The first sovereign claim to the waters was possessed by Japan in 1940 [19]. All maps during this time demonstrated Japanese dominance in these waters. After World War II, the coastlines under Japan's possessions were vulnerable, therefore they opted to return their possessions out of fear of a foreign invasion.[15]

China

Figure 2: The Nine dotted line. The green dashes Demarcate the territorial claim of China of the South China Sea dating back to the 1950s. This claim is not agreed under any international governing body, however, it is held claim to these waters.

After the outcome of World War II, the quickly growing nation of China had developed a sense of nationalism. Nationalists were quick to notice the ongoing dominance of Japan in the records of the Map system. Nationalists then decided to redraw the map with 11 dashes creating a U shape that encompassed 80% of the South China Sea.[19] The territorial claim brushes the coastlines of Vietnam, Malaysia, The Philippines, and Brunei. The southernmost point on the map reaches 1,120 miles from mainland China.[19] The 11 dash line did not remain for long. After the Peoples Republic of China formed, two dashes were removed to give Vietnam some territory, thus becoming the nine-dash line.[19] Again, this agreement was not done under any formal or unilateral arrangement and without the consent of other South Asian countries.

Figure 3: The Spratly islands. A small cluster of islands in the middle of the South China sea. The majority are coral atolls. China has attempted to reclaim these islands by constructing military bases on top of them.

The Spratly Islands

The South China Sea began to gather attention in the 1970's with the newfound discovery of oil. It was not until 1988 when conflict occurred.[19] The South China sea has very few habitable Islands. Towards the south, there is a collection of islands named the Spratly Islands. These "islands" are small coral atolls of the region. The first conflict occurred between Vietnam and China when they landed on the Johnson islands in the south Spratly Islands.[19] After the conflict, China had seized seven of the Spratly islands. [19]

In 1994, China claimed more islands, Mischief reef, which is of specific importance since it is within the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).[19] The EEZ is essential to understanding the international conflict for oil and gas in the South China Sea. The EEZ is a component of international law regarding the oceans, created by the UN, where a coastal country is free to explore marine resources for themselves for up to 200 miles.[20] China's act of claiming islands within the EEZ infringes on this law. There is no proper international government or punisher for such actions. The Philippines protested to avoid conflict. [19]

China continued to prevent Vietnamese vessels from exploring oil and gas in the 21st century. They continued their sovereign claims by sending oil rigs to disputed territories, sent naval blockades to other countries, and starting land reclamation on the Spratly Islands, including the development of aircraft hangars and runways.[19] Long range surface to air missiles were then sent to Woody island, heightening tensions in the region through the rapid militarization. This demarcated a shift in the national interests of China. No longer were they only seeking energy resources for the nation's high energy demand, they were forcefully claiming these resources from other countries, and impose military strength to any who may contest. It has gathered international attention since the building of military bases, and it is questioned whether China has expansionist tendencies rather than just accessing oil reserves.

International Conflict

In 2009, China submitted a map demarcating the nine-dash line. China left it ambiguous whether it was claiming the rights to the resources in these waters or just the island claims. [19] This strategy of ambiguity essentially avoided counterclaims from other countries of the UN and allowed China to continue its expansive maneuvers.

Since the neighbouring Asian countries were limited in military strength, they could not enter conflict with China. They decided on an approach bilateral agreements between nations. The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) attempted to resolve all maritime disputes in the waters. China insisted on making negotiations with each nation independently to make a more beneficial outcome on their ends and refuted at the involvement of Japan and the United States on multiple occasions.[19]

After many failures in peace talks and negotiation, the Philippines turned to international law in 2013. The Philippines filed a Statement of Claim at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to determine whether specific resources (mineral and fish), lay within the EEZ of the Philippines.[19] This decision would override China's territorial claim of the nine-dash line. The tribunal sided with the Philippines. The tribunal does not contain the power to overturn China's sovereignty claims. The tribunal stated that all of China's claims could not sustain human life and habitation, which deems that China cannot include nearby coastal regions of the islands as included in their EEZ. [19] The legal result then contended that China had no right of territorial and marine claims of the Spratly islands being within their EEZ and that it cannot contest with the EEZ of other ASEAN countries. The ruling also allows the United States navy to enter the South China Sea near the Spratly islands uncontested. Before the decision, the US remained ambiguous on both sides claiming that China might have sovereign claims to avoid international conflict.

In 2016, once the ruling of the tribunal became official, China released a campaign calling it illegitimate. [19] China threatened any intruders of their claimed waters in the South China Sea with arrest. However, refusing to comply does not mean rejecting international order. It is considered that China is exerting its global power privilege similar in ways that the United States does not comply with international law in other fields. [19] The US also does not contend with this situation as it would deem them as hypocritical. China also has claimed the South China Seas to be its territory on a historical basis. However, the claim is often discredited amongst scholars. [19]

The geopolitical battle continued during an ASEAN conference in 2016. Vietnam and the Philippines wished for the ruling to be mentioned in the communication at the conference. However, China asserted its influence through Laos and Cambodia, who were receiving international aid at the time, to vote against any mention of the ruling.[19] The conference continued by announcing no ruling in favour of the Philippines. The announcement showed a failure of ASEAN unity.

The Philippines were enraged by the passivity of the United States in the matter. The newly elected President Duterte decided to make negotiations with China as they had lost hope from the United States. This led to economic concessions to the Philippines from China, after they insisted and downplayed the military presence of China in the South China Sea, and stopped military cooperation with the United States.[19]

These events demonstrate the growing power of China in the international realm, and a victory of geopolitical battle between them, other southeast Asian states and the United States. China's ability to coerce other nation-states to downplay there forceful sovereign claims for material and military interest demonstrates a potential hegemonic shift from United States domination in the global sector to areas of influence under two competing global powers.

Environmental Implications

The South China Sea has an abundance of marine biodiversity. The current events pose serious environmental threats to the ecosystems, whether through landscape transformation, fossil fuel extraction and spills, and potential military conflict. The South China Sea is home to 600 species of coral reef, 3000 species of fish, and 1500 species of sponge.[21] These species are intricate to the survival of coral reef ecosystems due to their mutual interdependency for their survival. Rising global temperatures and oceanic acidification already threaten coral reefs. Additional human stresses occurring in the South China Sea may lead to an ecological disaster. The rapid economic growth of the South Asian countries has led to high levels of sea pollution from trading ships regularly passing through. [21]

The South Asian countries' primary food source comes from fish in the South China Sea and accounts for 10% of global fisheries.[22] Further stresses from oil exploration and rigging in these waters may lead to an ecological tipping point, which will be disastrous for the ecosystem and the many communities that depend on the fish as their primary food source. Processes of China reclaiming the land has dismantled many coral reefs and atolls. Furthermore, many countries have encouraged fisheries to fish more to establish sovereign claims to the water, making it more challenging to manage a sustainable fish and marine ecosystem.[21] On top of this, the increased militarization of the sea has led to large naval fleets to pollute the waters.

The conflict has led to a rapid increase in oil exploration and drilling by all countries, which poses risks of leaks.[21] Onto this, the burning of fossil fuels extracted from the South China Sea will contribute to the anthropogenic climate change. There has ultimately been limited scientific research on the biodiversity of the islands in the South China Sea. Therefore the costs of construction of military bases and oil exploration could be detrimental as we are unaware of what is at stake.

Conclusion

Resources such as land, oil, minerals have sparked many wars throughout history. The South China Sea presents another location with the potential to fuel the war over a multitude of resources. As consumption habits increase, the demand for oil, natural gas, and minerals are on the rise. Technology advancements have made rare earth materials incredibly desirable. Although these resources are becoming more challenging to find and obtain, future conflicts are imminent. Geology aids us in predicting where deposits of such resources will occur, how to detect them, and why they form where they do. Without geology, the vast wealth of resources in the South China Sea would remain unknown. Thus, without geology, international diplomatic relations and issues that have arisen in recent decades would not have existed. Much of international relations focuses on the development, multilateral negotiations, and trade. At the forefront of all these are fossil fuels developed from geological processes. The arena of international relations would look very different without the importance of geology, mining, and resource extraction.

Geology and geography are very closely linked. Geography focuses on ecosystem integrity and sustainability and present-day environments and landscapes. It also focuses on various social aspects, such as economic development, job security, and urbanization. In many cases, geology is an expansion of geography into the earth's deep and ancient history. It explains why the current landscapes and ecosystems exist and how they came to be and why certain fossil fuels formed. Geography looks at the present on how ecosystems function and how fossil fuel extraction affects our present-day system. The South China Sea has a direct connection to both geology and geography. The tectonics and sediment deposits led to the creation of deep oceanic basins, the creation of fossil fuels in the seafloor, the rivers, and mountains that eroded and brought valuable minerals into coastal sediments and created the unique ecosystem that geographers today monitor for environmental sustainability. Geology has allowed for the discovery of fossil fuels in the area and their extraction, which directly harms the environment. However, it meets the social stability needed for the massive human population. The core of geography is the balancing of environmental, social, and economic needs.

The link between Geology, International Relations and Geography will. Not end with the South China Sea, but will continue in multiple other resource-related conflicts in the future. Many are predicting oil will become a resource of the path, and the current effects of anthropogenic climate change will shift to freshwater being the most valuable resource. To understand this conflict, one must know the geologic past and the creation of new water resources before they can understand the sustainability aspects and international diplomacy on the topic.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wang, Pinxiang; Li, Qianyu; Li, Chun-Feng (2014). Geology of the China seas. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. p. 79.
  2. ↑ Wang, Pinxian; Li, Qianyu; Li, Chen-Feng (2014). Geology of the China Seas. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. p. 89.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wang, Pinxian; Li, Qianyu; Li, Chen-Feng (2014). Wang, P., Li, Q., & Li, C. (2014). Chapter 3 - Tectonic Framework and Magmatism. In Geology of the China seas (pp. 73-182). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. p. 88.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wang, Pinxian; Li, Qianyu; Chun-Feng; Li (2014). Geology of the China seas. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. p. 81.
  5. ↑ Wang, Pinxian; Li, Qianyu; Li, Chen-feng (2014). Geology of the China seas. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. p. 87.
  6. ↑ Wang, Pinxian; Li, Qianyu; Li, Chen-Feng (2014). Geology of the China seas. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. p. 164.
  7. ↑ Wang, Pinxian; Li, Qianyu; Li, Chen-Feng (2014). Geology of the China seas. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. p. 90.
  8. ↑ Wang, Pinxian; Li, Qianyu; Li, Chen-Feng (2014). Geology of the China seas. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. p. 100.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Briais, Anne; Patriat, Phillipe (April 10th 1993). "Updated Interpretation of Magnetic Anomalies and Seafloor Spreading: Stages in the South China Sea' Implications for the Tertiary Tectonics of Southeast Asia". Journal of Geophysical Research. 98: 6299–6328. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ↑ Wang, Pinxian; Li, Qianyu; Li, Chen-Feng (2014). Geology of the South China seas. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. p. 117.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Zhao, Meixun; Wang, Pinxian (2009). The South China Sea: Paleoceanography and sedimentology. Dodrecht: Springer. p. 459.
  12. ↑ Wang, Pinxian; Li, Qianyu; Li, Chen-Feng (2014). Geology of the South China seas. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Selvier. p. 571.
  13. ↑ Wang, Pinxian; Li, Qianyu; Li, Chen-Feng (2014). The Geology of the South China Sea. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Selvier. p. 594.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Wang, Pinxian; Li, Qianyu; Li, Chen-Feng (2014). The Geology of the South China Sea. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Selvier. p. 596.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Wang, Pinxian; Li, Qianyu; Li, Chen-Feng (2014). The Geology of the South China Sea. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Selvier. p. 597.
  16. ↑ Wang, Pinxian; Li, Qianyu; Li, Chen-Feng (2014). The Geology of the South China Sea. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Selvier. p. 617.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Clark, Allen (December 2008). "Marine mineral resources of the South China sea". Marine Georesources & Geotechnology. 11: 101–126 – via Taylor Francis.
  18. ↑ Wang, Pinxian; Li, Qianyu; Li, Chen-feng (2014). The Geology of the South China seas. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. p. 620.
  19. ↑ 19.00 19.01 19.02 19.03 19.04 19.05 19.06 19.07 19.08 19.09 19.10 19.11 19.12 19.13 19.14 19.15 19.16 19.17 19.18 Zhao, Suisheng (2018). "China and the South China Sea Arbitration: Geopolitics Versus International Law". Journal of Contemporary China. 27: 1–15. line feed character in |title= at position 43 (help)
  20. ↑ Li, Lingqun (2018). China's Policy towards the South China Sea. New York: Routledge. p. 60.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Houdre, Chloe (July 12. 2018). "Environmental Ramifications of the South China Sea Conflict: Vying for Regional Dominance at the Environment's Expense". Georgetown Education. Retrieved June 16, 2020. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ↑ Zhang, Hongzhou (December 20, 2017). "Fisheries cooperation in the South China Sea: Evaluating the options" (PDF). Marine Policy. 18: 67–76.
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