Based on an integrated analysis of high-resolution 2D/3D seismic data and drilling results, this study analyzes the tectonicsedimentary evolution of the Qiongdongnan Basin(QDNB) since the late Miocene, and discusses the controlling factors on the formation and development of the Central Canyon System(CCS). The sediment failures caused by the relative sea level falling might have discharged deposits from the slope to the canyon. The two suits of the infillings, i.e., turbidites and mass transport complex(MTC), were derived from the northwestern source and northern source, respectively. The sediment supplies, which differ significantly among different areas, might have led to the variations observed in the internal architectures. Tectonic transformation around 11.6 Ma had provided the tectonic setting for the CCS and formed an axial sub-basin in the central part of the Changchang Depression, which could be called the rudiment of the CCS. The tectonic activity of the Red River Fault(RRF) at about 5.7 Ma might have strengthened the hydrodynamics of the deposits at the junction of the Yinggehai Basin(YGHB) and the QDNB to trigger a high-energy turbidity current. The MTC from the northern continental slope system might have been constrained by the Southern Uplift, functioning as a barrier for the infillings of the CCS. Thanks to a sufficient sediment supply during the Holocene period and the paleo-seafloor morphology, the relief of modern central canyon with the starving landform in the eastern Changchang Depression might have been accentuated by deposition of sediments and vertical growth along the canyon flanks, where collapse deposits were widely developed. Corresponding to the segmentation of the CCS, the forming mechanisms of the canyon between the three segments would be different. The turbidite channel in the head area had likely been triggered by the abundant sediment supply from the northwestern source together with the fault activity at about 5.7 Ma of the RRF. The formation and evolution of the canyon in the
SU MingZHANG ChengXIE XiNongWANG ZhenFengJIANG TaoHE YunLongZHANG CuiMei
