Academician Guan Shicong

a famous expert in regional geology and petroleum geology

has made outstanding contributions to Chinese geologic cause through geologic researches over 60 years. His main achievements in regional geology are verification

for the first time

of the existence of Longshan movement in southern Gansu

western Qinling area and establishment of the Ordovician stratigraphic system in Zhuozishan area. His main contributions to petroleum geology include boosting the breakthrough of petroleum exploration in Cenozoic in North China basin; supervising the publication of the Atlas of Petroleum Geology in People's Republic of China; initiating the three-series division of the continental Cretaceous in China

and thus directing the classification of Cretaceous sedimentation types and selection of prospective areas; promoting the scientific research

reconnaissance and exploration of natural gas

including coal-derived or humic gas

resulting in large progress to be made in our natural gas exploration; participating the planning of our second round petroleum reconnaissance

under his guide large progresses have successively been made in major petroliferous provinces

such as Ordos basin

northwest Sichuan

Pearl River Mouth basin in northern South China Sea

shelf basin in East China Sea and northern Tarim basin. Academician Guan Shicong was adept in summarizing theories from practices. In his book "Marine-Facies

Terrestrial and Offshore Petroleum Geology in China"

he proposed a composite mode of paleo-marine depositional environments in China

which consisted of 2 facies groups

6 facies regions and 16 facies belts

and incisively forecasted the exploration potential of the marine formations. Since all the Meso-Cenozoic continental basins in China are of intraplate basins

he proposed a new principle for classification of Meso-Cenozoic continental sedimentary basins in China

and have effectively guided the petroleum exploration in continental basins in China.