Middle Oligocene oceanic crust of South China Sea jammed into Mindoro collision zone (Philippines)

Mindoro Island, south of Luzon (Philippines), is a complex junction between the Manila Trench and the collision zone of the North Palawan block with the western Philippines mobile belt. Middle Oligocene ophiolites recognized in this suture are coeval with the oldest magnetic anomalies of the South China Sea basin. These ophiolites are part of a complex pile of terranes thrust above the North Palawan block at the lower–middle Miocene boundary. These ophiolites are interpreted as fragments of South China Sea oceanic crust jammed between two distinct continental blocks during the counterclockwise rotation of Luzon.