The geochemical signatures of fifty-four rock samples and three supplementary drill stem test (DST) oils from the Yacheng-Sanya formations in the central Qiongdongnan Basin (CQB) were analysed. Reconstruction of the early Oligocene−early Miocene (36–16 Ma) palaeovegetation and source analyses of organic matter (OM) were conducted using aliphatic biomarkers in ancient sediments and DST oils. Both the interpreted aquatic and terrigenous OM contributed to the CQB source rocks (SRs) but had varying relative proportions. The four distribution patterns derived from n-alkanes, terpanes, and steranes are representative of four OM composition models of the Yacheng-Sanya SRs, including model A, model B, model C, and model D, which were classified based on the increasing contribution from terrigenous OM relative to aquatic OM. Some terrigenous higher plant-derived biomarkers, including oleanane, des-A-oleanane, C₂₉ ααα 20R sterane, bicadinanes, the C₁₉/(C₁₉ + C₂₃) tricyclic terpane ratio, and other n-alkane-derived ratios suggest that angiosperms had increased proportions in the palaeoflora from early Oligocene to early Miocene, and the bloom of terrigenous higher plants was observed during deposition of upper Lingshui Formation to lower Sanya Formation. These findings are consistent with the incremental total organic carbon and free hydrocarbons + potential hydrocarbons (S₁ + S₂) in the lower Lingshui-lower Sanya strata with a significant enrichment of OM in the E₃l₁-N₁s₂ shales. The maturity- and environment-sensitive aliphatic parameters of the CQB SRs and DST oils suggest that all the samples have predominantly reached their early oil-generation windows but have not exceeded the peak oil windows, except for some immature Sanya Formation shales. In addition, most of the OM in the analysed samples was characterised by mixed OM contributions under anoxic to sub-anoxic conditions. Furthermore, terrestrial-dominant SRs were interpreted to have developed mainly in the Lingshui-Sanya formations and were deposited in sub-oxic to oxic environments, compared to the anoxic to sub-anoxic conditions of the Yacheng Formation.

Studies in the northern South China Sea (SCS) basement remain important for understanding the evolution of the Southeast Asian continental margin. Due to a thick cover of sediments and scarce borehole penetration, little is known about the age and tectonic affinity of this basement. In this study, an integrated study of zircon U-Pb geochronology, Hf isotopes, and whole-rock major and trace elements on seven basement granitoids from seven boreholes of Qiongdongnan Basin has been carried out. New zircon U-Pb results for these granitoids present middle-late Permian ((270.0±1.2) Ma; (253±3.4) Ma), middle to late Triassic ((246.2±3.4) Ma; (239.3±0.96) Ma; (237.9±0.99) Ma; (228.9±1.0) Ma) and Late Cretaceous ages ((120.6±0.6) Ma). New data from this study, in combination with the previous dataset, indicates that granitoid ages in northern SCS basement vary from 270 Ma to 70.5 Ma, with three age groups of 270–196 Ma, 162–142 Ma, and 137–71 Ma, respectively. Except for the late Paleozoic-Mesozoic rocks in the basement of the northern SCS, a few old zircon grains with the age of (2708.1±17) Ma to (2166.6±19) Ma provide clues to the existence of the pre-Proterozoic components. The geochemical signatures indicate that the middle Permian-early Cretaceous granitoids from the Qiongdongnan Basin are I-type granites formed in a volcanic arc environment, which were probably related to the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate.

The increase of total organic carbon content of the late Oligocene−early Miocene terrigenously-dominated marine shales in the shallower depth intervals was reported in the Ying-Qiong Basin, South China Sea. The organic enriched lower Sanya Formation shales (early Miocene) have biomarker characteristics of tropical/subtropical plants, with abundant high molecular weight n-alkanes, angiosperm-derived oleanane, rearranged oleananes I, II, II, tricyclic/tetracyclic terpanes including des-A-oleanane, X, *, Y, Z, Z1 and bicadinanes W, T, T1, R. The biomarker characteristics are suggestive of larger influx of the dominant tropical/subtropical angiosperms in flora under a warming and more humid climate during depositions of the lower Sanya Formation (early Miocene) than the older Lingshui Formation (late Oligocene). The tropical/subtropical angiosperm input was thought as the prime control of terrigenous organic matter enrichment relative to the redox condition, and the coeval sea level changes and seafloor spreading in the South China Sea. Enrichment of the terrigenous organic matter in the early Miocene shales is likely in association with the coeval peak East Asian summer monsoon intensity in the South China Sea.