1937, Yellow River Records and Geological Records were published, which was another important work of Hou Defeng in his early years. This catalogue briefly describes the landforms, strata, structures and minerals of the Yellow River Basin at the northern foot of Qinling Mountain and the southern foot of Yinshan Mountain, including Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi and Hebei provinces and parts of Qinghai, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces. This is valuable information for harnessing and developing the Yellow River Basin.
During this period, Hou Defeng personally conducted a large-scale geological and mineral survey from north to south, including asphalt and lignite in Heilongjiang, coal mine in Kailuan, Hebei, coal field at the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain, asbestos in Hebei, coal field in Xiuwu, Henan, siderite in Shanxi, geology in Zhang Long, Fujian and geological profile in Lanzhou, Gansu. He also studied gold in China and wrote more than 20 reports and papers.
After Hou Defeng 1938 went to work in Sichuan Geological Survey, the geological and mineral investigation activities became busier. Geological and mineral surveys of clay mines in Nanjiang, Guangyuan, Qianwei coalfields and Cixian, Hebei Province, geological and mineral surveys in northern Guizhou, and a summary of the research on the relationship between geological structures and minerals in Sichuan. It provided scientific basis and guiding direction for mine construction at that time and later.
From 65438 to 0946, Hou Defeng worked in Nanjing Central Geological Survey and led a team to inspect the dam site of the Three Gorges Reservoir. This was the first serious geological survey conducted by China himself. Since then, he has been concerned about the engineering geological work and natural resources protection in China. During this period, as the curator of the exhibition hall, he carefully arranged the exhibition of geology and minerals, in which the history of biological development, especially the history of human development, was complete in content, novel in design and popular, which played a pioneering role in the establishment and development of China's geology and natural history.
From 65438 to 0950, Hou Defeng organized and participated in the first large-scale geological and mineral survey in Northeast China, which provided a scientific basis for the recovery and development of iron and steel bases and other industrial and mining resources in Northeast China. Soon, one of the pillars of China's iron and steel industry, Hunan Xiangtan manganese ore resources were in a hurry, and Hou Defeng and others organized and participated in the research work, and found the shallow manganese oxide ore on the verge of exhaustion. According to the metallogenic regularity and investigation, it is predicted that there may be primary manganese carbonate in its deep part. The drilling results confirmed this creative prediction and saved the crisis of manganese shutdown in China iron and steel industry. This event was widely published in the newspapers at that time, which played a positive role in promoting the development of science and technology and serving economic work with science and technology.
From 65438 to 0955, Hou Defeng led and participated in the petroleum geological survey in northwest China. He pointed out that oil generation does not depend on whether the formation is continental or marine, but mainly depends on whether there is suitable paleoclimate and paleostructure. Thick beds and humid climate are the basic conditions for the development of source rocks and reservoirs. Descending to generate oil, ascending to accumulate oil, and gathering for a lifetime to form an oil field. There are oil fields not only in Mesozoic-Cenozoic continental sedimentary basins in western China, but also in Mesozoic-Cenozoic depressions in southwest and northeast China. His insights at that time not only successfully explained the causes of oil fields in the west of China, but also promoted the oil exploration in Qinghai, became one of the decision makers of the strategic shift of China oil exploration base from west to east, and contributed to the discovery of Daqing oil field and other oil fields in the east. In the early 1960s, Lanzhou Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences published China's first monograph "Oil Generation from Continental Facies", which was completed by a group of young scientific and technological personnel under the guidance of Hou Defeng. The theory of continental oil generation is an innovation of petroleum geology in China, which has a long-term guiding role for future petroleum exploration and development.
From 65438 to 0960, China's national defense industry was in a difficult situation due to changes at home and abroad, and Hou Defeng led and participated in related work. Together with other experts, he led the investigation of many uranium mines in various parts of China, conducted theoretical research on mineralization, solved many practical problems and promoted the development of uranium mining. Hou Defeng, Ye Lianjun, Gu Dezhen and other scholars undertook and led the geological work of the nuclear test site, including the engineering geological research of the site and the geological effect of explosive force. In the absence of information and previous experience, I was independent, pioneering and innovating, overcoming many difficulties and successfully completing the task.