Relation Between Tethys Sea and Tarim Basin

Junchao Wei

The Tarim basin is the largest continental basin in China. It is known as the heart of central Asia. Still it was related to the Mediterranean Sea in the geological past. Based on the investigations of paleontology, stratigraphy, tectonics, and remote sensing, it is suggested that Tethys and the Tarim basin should be connected from the Late Cretaceous to Miocene. The northern branch of the Tethys sea channel began to pass through the Alay gap and invade the Tarim basin at the beginning of the Late Cretaceous. Up to the Miocene, marine invasion and marine regression must have happened six times in the western Tarim basin. The Paleocene marine invasion encroached upon the widest area and lasted the longest of the six times, which extended to the region of the southern Hotan River. The occurrence of the Paleocene marine fossils in the Kuqa Seg indicates the influence of the marine invasion. At the end of the Miocene, seawater receded fully from the Tarim basin. A Miocene petroleum field has been found in the Yecheng Seg of the western Tarim basin. According to the relationship between Tethys and the Tarim basin, the potentialities of the Late Cretaceous-Miocene hydrocarbon source are considered to be great.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91032©1988 Mediterranean Basins Conference and Exhibition, Nice, France, 25-28 September 1988.