THE CONTINENTAL TECTONICS OF CHINA

The Chinese continent is a composite continent made up of many blocks of various sizes. It features soft-collision and polycyclic suturing b etween the blocks and the resulting composite orogeny. The continent h as distinctive polycyclic evolution by stages and multilevel mosaic an d flyover-type structures. Since the Paleozoic, the tectonic developme nt of China has been controlled by the three global dynamic systems: t he Paleo-Asian, Tethyan and Pacific systems. The geodynamic processes were marked by Gondwana dispersion, blocks drifting northward, fold be lts migrating southward and Asian accretion. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevi er Science Ltd