Oil & Gas Geology ›› 2005, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (1): 64-77.doi: 10.11743/ogg20050109

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Formation and evolution of polycyclic superimposed Tarim Basin

He Dengfa1, Jia Chengzao1, Li Desheng1, Zhang Chaojun1, Meng Qingren2, Shi Xin1   

  1. 1. Petroleum Exploration and Development Research Institute, PetroChina, Beijing;
    2. Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
  • Received:2004-11-21 Online:2005-02-25 Published:2012-01-16

Abstract:

Tarim Basin is a large composite and superimposed sedimentary basin developed on the basement of pre-Sinian continental crust. It has undergone three mega-cycles of extension and convergence that separately occurred in Sinian-Middle Devonian, Late Devonian-Triassic and Jurassic-Quaternary. During Sinian to Middle Devonian, i.e. the period of paleo-Asian ocean or proto-Tethyan ocean, it experienced the developmental cycle of intracontinental rift-passive epicontinental basin-foreland basin. From Late Devonian to Triassic, the period of paleo-Tethyan ocean ocean, the southwestern margin of Tarim experienced the developmental cycle of intracontinental rift/passive epicontinental basin-back-arc extensional basin-back-arc foreland basin. From Jurassic to Quaternary, the period of neo-Tethyan ocean, it experienced the developmental cycle of intracontinental rift/depression-compressional adjustment-late foreland basin. There were three secondary cycles during the intracontinental rift/depression-compressional adjustment period. Stratigraphic sequences of the prototype basin in the extensional stage are much more continuous, while those in the convergence stage are characterized by large lateral variation. The complex and superimposed geologic configuration of the basin had been determined by the geodynamic process and pattern of the basin evolution, as well as by the tectonic framework transformation, which would control the basic characteristics of hydrocarbon accumulation and distribution.

Key words: prototype basin, tectonic regime, tectonic evolution, geodynamics, superimposed basin, Tarim Basin

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