THE MESOZOIC QIANGTANG FORELAND BASIN IN QINGHAI—XIZANG PLATEAU,CHINA

Mesozoic Qiangtang foreland Basin is located between Jinshajiang suture belt and Bangong—Nujiang suture belt and an important petroliferous basin in the north of Qinghai—Xizang plateau. This foreland basin is E—W elongated basin with 800km in length and 200km to 300km in width. Both margins of the basin are large suture belt and linked to thrusting of large suture belt, so Mesozoic Qiangtang foreland basin belongs to composite foreland basins according to Jordan’s classification of the foreland basin(1988). The foreland basin is filled with 5000～8000m thick late Triassic to Cretaceous marine sediments. The spacial changes of the stratigraphy indicates that the basin texture looks like a symmetric body, and it can be subdivided into three tectonic geomorphic units from north to south ,such as northern basin, center uplift, and southern basin. The depth in the north varies from 5000 to 8000m,the depth in center uplift varies from zero to 1000m, the depth in the south varies from 5000 to 7000m, Which show that the occurrence of the Mesozoic filling stratigraphy are thicker in the north and the south of the basin, but thinner in the center uplift of the basin. There are two center of subsidence of the basin, both of them are located in south and north foredeep belt, lying in the front of suture belt. The basin is one of common foreland basins between suture belt and belongs to typical symmetric foreland basin.This kind of basin geometry allows large thickness of synsedimentary molasse sediments to be preserved and related to basement uplifts and thrusts in the cratonic edge of the mountain belt.From late Triassic to Cretaceous the foreland basin is filled by four tectonic sequences, including late Triassic tectonic sequence(TS\-1),early Jurassic tectonic sequence(TS\-2), middle Jurassic to early Cretaceous tectonic sequence(TS\-3) and middle to late Cretaceous tectonic sequence (TS\-4).A tectonic Sequence is a body of genetically related strata isolated by unconformity ,deposited in a basining stage responding to a thrusting episode. Late Triassic tectonic sequence(TS\-1) is bounded by Ta and Tb and composed of the Xiaochaka formation which is more than 2500m in depth, it is a coarsing\|upward tectonic sequence,the lower is fan delta sediments with debris conglomerate,the middle is carbonate ramp sediments,the upper is delta sediments; early Jurassic tectonic sequence(TS\-2) is bounded by Tb and Tc and composed of the Nadigangri formation which is more than 1000m in depth, it is a thinning\|upward tectonic sequence,the lower is fan delta sediments with debris conglomerate,the upper is subaquatic detrital sediments; middle Jurassic to early Cretaceous tectonic sequence(TS\-3) is bounded by Tc and Td and composed of the Quemocuo formation,Buqu formation, Xiali formation, Suowa formation and Xueshan formation, which is more than 3000m in depth; middle to late Cretaceous tectonic sequence (TS\-4) is bounded by Td and Tf and composed of the Abushan formation, it is a thinning—upward alluvial fan sediments with more than 1000m in depth.