Development and Evolution of the

Philippine Archipelago
KENJIE G. DEL ROSARIO
AB P OLI TICAL S C I ENCE
Philippine Archipelago
Philippine Archipelago
-Emerged because of the dynamic shifting and collision of plates
-Welded together in an island arc and punctuated by episodic
and extensive magmatic activity
-Mixture of lithospheric blocks of different ages that came from far
away origins
-Plate Tectonics explains where and when these terranes were
formed and how they were transported to their present site
Proto-Philippines (Cretaceous)
-Cretaceous is a geologic period and system that spans 79 million
years from the end of the Jurassic Period 145 million years ago to
the beginning of the Paleocene Period 66

-First islands were formed in the Philippines during this period

First Philippine Islands Formed
First Philippine Islands Formed
First Philippine Islands Formed
Eocene Period (55-35 M BC)
-a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch
of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era

-Central Cordillera and other western volcanic islands began to

form what is now known as the western seascape of the Philippines.
Generally of great tectonic activity, Major Philippine islands began
their slow evolution towards their current state during this era.
Eocene Period
Eocene Period
-Micro-continental terranes (Northern Palawan, Mindoro and
Zamboanga) also rimmed the margins of Southeastern Eurasia.

-The Philippines is divided among 3 separate island arcs: Luzon Arc,

Halmahera Arc and the Cordillera & Sangihe Arcs.

-Zambales Ranges attached itself to Luzon; formation of Celebes

Sea Basin south of Zamboanga due to seafloor spreading.
3 Island Arcs
Luzon arc - whose remains are found in the Sierra Madre ranges
and are moving down, possibly toward Samar

Halmahera arc - forming the East and Central Mindanao Cordilleras

Sangihe arc - forming the Zamboanga peninsula and the Kudarat

plateau in western Mindanao
Eocene Period
-Volcanic terrains of Luzon, Visayas, and Central Mindanao were
built from the magnetic activity along the edge of the Philippine
Sea.
Mid Oligocene (37-23 M BC)
-often considered an important time of transition, a link between
the archaic world of the tropical Eocene and the more modern
ecosystems of the Miocene.

-major changes included a global expansion of grasslands, and a

regression of tropical broad leaf forests to the equatorial belt.

- sees the beginnings of modern ocean circulation, with tectonic

shifts causing the opening and closing of ocean gateways.
Mid Oligocene
-cooling of the oceans had already commenced by the
Eocene/Oligocene boundary and they continued to cool as the
Oligocene progressed.

-oceanic crust of South China Sea jammed into Mindoro collision

zone

-The Philippines first started to form in the mid-Oligocene, around 30

million years ago, when the land of mass that is now Australia
started to drift northward, causing an uplift in the Pacific sea floor.
Mid Oligocene
-At the same time, a part of the Asian continental shelf drifted
southward, creating the landform which now consists of modern
day Palawan and Mindoro islands.
Early Miocene (23-6 M BC)
-as the climate started to get cooler, the landscape started to
change. New mammals evolved to replace the extinct animals of
the Oligocene epoch.

-saw a rise in a series of volcanic islands in shallow waters, and

further subduction of converging plates in the Pacific formed other
larger islands such as Visayas and Mindanao.
Early Miocene
Middle Miocene
-During this period, a sharp drop in global temperatures took place.
This event is known as the Middle Miocene Climate Transition.

-the Continental Palawan-Mindoro blocks collided with the Visaya

Islands

-this collision uplifted Central Mindoro and deformed basement

and sedimentary strata along a line which trends from North Luzon
to Negros
Late Miocene
-migration of west-dipping subduction zone to the longitudal valley
in Taiwan and to the North Luzon trough

-beginning of subduction in the Manila Trench

-Manila Trench is an oceanic trench in the Pacific Ocean, located

west of the islands of Luzon and Mindoro. This subduction zone
reaches a depth of about 5,400 metres, in contrast with the
average depth of the South China Sea of about 1,500 metres.
Early Pleistocene
-this recent period is characterized by repeated cycles of
glaciation and the emergence of Homo sapiens.

-Basin expanded and developed into flatlands and rolling hills

accompanied by volcanic activity

-Landmass expanded due to fluctuations of sea level. When sea

level was low, land bridges were exposed, connecting Palawan-
Borneo with central and western Southeast Asia
Homework for next week
Group Homework Make a table showing the beginning and
development of the Philippine Archipelago