By analyzing the balanced cross sections and subsidence history of the Longmen Mountain thrust belt, China, we concluded that it had experienced five tectonic stages： （1） the formation stage （T3x） of the miniature of Longmen Mountain, early Indosinian movement, and Anxian tectonic movement created the Longmen Mountain; （2） the stable tectonic stage （J1） where weaker tectonic movement resulted in the Longmen Mountain thrust belt being slightly uplifted and slightly subsiding the foreland basin; （3） the intense tectonic stage （J2-3）, namely the early Yanshan movement; （4） continuous tectonic movement （K-E）, namely the late Yanshan movement and early Himalayan movement; and （5） the formation of Longmen Mountain （N-Q）, namely the late Himalayan movement. During those tectonic deformation stages, the Anxian movement and Himalayan movement played important roles in the Longmen Mountain＇s formation. The Himalayan movement affected Longmen Mountain the most; the strata thrust intensively and were eroded severely. There are some klippes in the middle part of the Longmen Mountain thrust belt because a few nappes were pushed southeastward in later tectonic deformation.
JIN WenzhengTANG LiangjieYANG KemingWAN GuimeiLü ZhizhouYU Yixin
The depth to detachment level is a critical factor affecting the quality of structural modeling in fold and thrust belts. There are several detachment levels developed in the Kuqa depression. Based on the excess-area diagram, this paper concerns mainly the calculation of the depth to detachment in the Kuqa depression. The result demonstrates that the detachment levels are situated in different strata in varying zones, such as the Paleogene Kugeliemu Formation, the Paleozoic and the crystalline basement. The calculated depth to detachment level is very helpful for testing whether a structural interpretation is reasonable and for defining the depth of deeper detachment levels which were not discerned in seismic profiles.
The Triassic Jialingjiang Formation and Leikoupo Formation are characterized by thick salt layers. Three tectono-stratigraphic sequences can be identified according to detachment layers of Lower-Middle Triassic salt beds in the northern Sichuan Basin, i.e. the sub-salt sequence composed of Sinian to the Lower Triassic Feixianguan Formation, the salt sequence of the Lower Triassic Jialingjiang Formation and Mid-Triassic Leikoupou Formation, and the supra-salt sequence composed of continental clastics of the Upper-Triassic Xujiahe Formation, Jurassic and Cretaceous. A series of specific structural styles, such as intensively deformed belt of basement-involved imbricated thrust belt, basement-involved and salt-detached superimposed deformed belt, buried salt-related detached belt, duplex, piling triangle zone and pop-up, developed in the northern Sichuan Basin. The relatively thin salt beds, associated with the structural deformation of the northern Sichuan Basin, might act as a large decollement layer. The deformation mechanisms in the northern Sichuan Basin included regional compression and shortening, plastic flow and detachment, tectonic upwelling and erosion, gravitational sliding and spreading. The source rocks in the northern Sichuan Basin are strata underlying the salt layer, such as the Cambrian, Silurian and Permian. The structural deformation related to the Triassic salt controlled the styles of traps for hydrocarbon. The formation and development of hydrocarbon traps in the northern Sichuan Basin might have a bearing upon the Lower-Middle Triassic salt sequences which were favorable to the hydrocarbon accumulation and preservation. The salt layers in the Lower-Middle Triassic formed the main cap rocks and are favorable for the accumulation and preservation of hydrocarbon.
