Near-surface evidence of recent Taiwan Orogeny detected by a shallow seismic method

Collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate has caused recent tectonics in the southwestern alluvial plain of Taiwan. A fold, which is the near-surface evidence of this recent tectonics, has been found using a shallow seismic method. The fold passes through 23°13.83′N and 120°07.54′E and strikes about N10W. Nearly parallel to the Taiwan Strait coastline, the fold is only a few kilometres away. The fold is in unconsolidated sediments and is possibly an extension of a blind thrust fault. Folding of near-surface strata suggests deformation within the last 10 ka, consistent with the proposition of Biq (Ti-Chi 12 (1992) 1–12) that the recent Taiwan Orogeny is at its early stage. This recent tectonics also provides evidence that the plate boundary in Taiwan is migrating northwestward.