Sedimentary basins of China underwent post-sedimentary alteration.The alteration could be divided into five stages

i.e.

tiny

feeble

medium

strong and bally strong alteration stages

and each of them resulted in comparative alteration basins.The shrinking

dying out of sedimentary basins were closely linked to the evolution of tectonic stress fields of the place they located.Altered by compressive stress field

sedimentary basins could form three kinds of alteration basins

namely reversal

successive and strike slip type alteration basins.Since they have different charateristics in source resevoir cap rocks and distribution as well as in preservation states

it thus suggests that the thoughts and methods on petroleum prospecting of each kind of alteration basin must be different.