The nature of the crust of the Okinawa Trough is different from that of the continental shelf in the East China Sea. The crust beneath the Trough is in transformation from continental to oceanic and the depth of MOHO in the northern section of the Trough is deeper than in the southern section. Thick sedimentary strata of Neogene and Pleistocene ages are deposited in the Okinawa Trough

and divided into three layers: the upper horizontal layer

the middle layer lightly folded and the lower deformed layer. They were formed in Pleistocene

Pliocene

and Miocene to Paleogene

respectively. The tectonic movement in the southern section is stronger than that in the northern section. Some volcanic seamounts appear on the bottom of the Trough. On both slopes of the Trough are developed many normal faults and the intrusive igneous rocks. The Okinawa Trough

the back-arc basin

is an embryonic marginal basin in rifting and spreading. The formation of the Okinawa Trough started in the early Pliocene. The transformation of crust and the growth of the Trough progressed from the southern to the northern section. The southern section is a true trough in tectonic sense.