Abstract:

The prototype and tectonic evolution of Tarim Basin from the Nanhua to the Sinian Period are discussed based on the field observations in the northern margin of Tarim Basin and combined with seismic interpretation and comparison of drilling wells data. It is concluded that the Tarim block aggregated into Rodinia supercontinent at latest and departed from Gondwana supercontinent at the earliest, which caused that the continental rift system mainly formed in Northeast and Southwest Tarim. Neoproterozoic diamictite and multiphased igneous events impacted the whole Tarim block. The northern and southern parts of Tarim show distinct differences; the northern has undergone extensional events corresponding to the breakup of Rodinia and crustal thinning during the SinianCambrian Period and developed graben basins and Sinian strata that were gradually pinching out in the central Tarim and mainly distributed in the north as the depocenter; the south may have been the uplifterosion area for a long period, and the southern margin was possibly involved plate in marginal subduction, accretion and uplift in the late Neoproterozoic.

Key words: Tarim Basin, Nanhua, Sinian, prototypic basin, Precambrian