Accretion and postaccretion tectonics of the Calamian Islands, North Palawan block, Philippines

Abstract Upper Paleozoic to Mesozoic sedimentary sequences of chert (Liminangcong Formation), clastics (Guinlo Formation) and a number of limestone units (Coron Formation, Minilog Formation and Malajon Limestone) constitute the accretionary complex of the North Palawan block, Philippines. Based on chert‐to‐clastic transitions from different stratigraphic sequences around the Calamian Islands, three accretionary belts are delineated: the Northern Busuanga Belt (NBB), the Middle Busuanga Belt (MBB) and the Southern Busuanga Belt (SBB). The accretion events of these belts along the East Asian accretionary complex, indicated by their sedimentary transitions, began with the Middle Jurassic NBB accretion, followed by the Late Jurassic MBB accretion and the Early Cretaceous SBB accretion. Several limestone blocks that formed over the seamounts became juxtaposed with chert–clastic sequences during accretion. During the Late Cretaceous, accretion‐subduction along the East Asian margin subsided bringing tectonic stability to the region. The seafloor spreading during the mid‐Oligocene disconnected the entire North Palawan block from the Asian mainland and then migrated southward. The collision between the North Palawan block and the Philippine Island Arc system in the middle Miocene generated a megafold structure in the Calamian Islands as a result of the clockwise turn of the accretionary belts in the eastern Calamian from originally northeast–southwest to northwest–southeast.