The extensive shelf areas of the South China Sea provide an excellent area for the study of the Quaternary cycles of eustatic sea-level changes. As water depths do not exceed 200 meters and are less than 100 meters over large areas, relatively minor fluctuations of sea-level result in major lateral shifts in sedimentary facies. Evidence from punch cores off the east coast of West Malaysia documents the Quatern ary cycles of eustatic changes in sea-level and their extent. Lithologic changes combined with foraminiferal and spore-pollen data indicate shallowing of extensive areas of the South China Sea from middle neritic depths (50-100 meters) to mangrove swamps, fresh water marshes and coal swamps or even lateritised surfaces , and vice versa. The youngest eustatic drop of sea-level occurred 11,000 ± years ago, coeval with the Latest Wisconsinian/Wiirm event. Two, or possibly three, older Pleistocene events of sea level drop are observed.
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Buddhadeb Biswas (1973) studied this question.