Tectonic Evolution of China and Its Control over Oil Basins

This paper is a brief review of the tectonic frame and crustal evolution of China and their control over the oil basins. China is subdivided into three regions by the Hercynian Ertix-Almantai (EACZ) and Hegenshan (HGCZ) convergent zones in the north, and the Indosinian Muztagh-Maqen (MMCZ) and the Fengxiang-Shucheng (FSCZ) convergent zones in the south. The northern region represents the southern marginal tract of the Siberian platform. The middle region comprises the Sino-Korea (SKP), Tarim (TAP) platforms and surrounding Paleozoic orogenic belts. The southern region includes the Yangtze platform (YZP), the Cathaysia (CTA) paleocontinent and the Caledonides between them in the eastern part, and the Qinghai-Tibet plateau composed of the Gondwana-affiliated massifs and Meso- and Cenozoic orogenic belts in the western part. The tectonic evolutions of China are described in three stages: Jinningian and pre-Jinningian, Caledonian to Indosinian, and post-Indosinian. Profound changes occurred at the end of Jinningian (ca. 830 Ma) and the Indosinian (ca. 210 Ma) tectonic epochs, which had exerted important influence on the formation of different types of basins. The oil basins distribute in four belts in China, the large superimposed basins ranging from Paleozoic to Cenozoic (Tarim and Junggar) in the western belt, the large superimposed basins ranging from Paleozoic to Mesozoic (Ordos and Sichuan) in the central belt, the extensional rift basins including the Cretaceous rift basins (Songliao) and the Cenozoic basin (Bohaiwan) in the eastern belt, and the Cenozoic marginal basins in the easternmost belt in offshore region. The tectonic control over the oil basins consists mainly in three aspects: the nature of the basin basement, the coupling processes of basin and orogen due to the plates interaction, and the mantle dynamics, notably the mantle upwelling resulting in crustal and lithospheric thinning beneath the oil basins.