Several basin groups with wide and deep grabens were formed through intensive stretching and thinning of the continental-margin crust in northern shelf margin of the South China Sea, with various types of hydrocarbon source rocks and massive reservoir sand bodies being developed. It is the coupling control of large-scale basins, widely distributed multiple source rocks and high-variable geothermal fields that established the generic foundation for deep-water hydrocarbon resources. With the interaction of large drainage systems, tectonic relief and relative sea-level fluctuation, three types of depositional systems were formed to control the development and the distribution of large-scale reservoirs whilst the high heat-flow accelerated the compaction and the diagenesis of deep-water sediments. The deep-water hydrocarbon exploration is very promising at the northern shelf margin of the South China Sea although with some challenges due to the complexity and the variability of three factors:source rocks, effective reservoir rocks and heat flow.

northern shelf margin of South China Sea  /  deep-water basin  /  deep-water hydrocarbon  /  deep-water depositional system