Wang Hongzhen et al. (1985)' s Atlas of Paleogeography of China is mainly based on geotectonic theory and a large number of regional survey data, which is the representative work of geotectonic palaeogeography of China. Cui Kexin (1986), Huang et al. (1987), others (1990), Liu Benpei et al. (19 1), Zhou Zhiyi et al. (1990)
The representative works of structural palaeogeography abroad are Ziegler (1988), DeCourte et al. (199 1), Scottsay (1997), Southeast Asia Research Group (1995) and Li Zhenxiang et al. (65438).
At present, structural palaeogeography at home and abroad shows the mutual combination and infiltration with sedimentology, stratigraphy, paleontology, geophysics, geochemistry, structural geology and other disciplines. The research focuses on the deposition and paleogeography of orogenic belts, the paleogeography of the Paleo-Tethys Islands and oceans, and the reconstruction of the global ancient continent, especially the reconstruction of key parts of the ancient continent. It is a very active branch of paleogeography.
The birth of plate theory in 1960s provided a theoretical basis for the study of active tectonic palaeogeography and promoted the development of this field. In 1990s, the research achievements in this field, such as geological history, paleogeography and the reconstruction of ocean and land in paleoclimate, have been used by petroleum geologists to study the global oil accumulation and distribution. In China, Mr. Wang Hongzhen made important contributions in the field of active tectonic palaeogeography.
Plate theory, especially the evidence of seafloor spreading and magnetic stripe age, has brought paleogeography and paleoclimate research into a new field, and geologists must rebuild the original sedimentary basin. This makes the concept of activity-based tectonic palaeogeography have a new theoretical basis and research methods. Prior to this, the emergence of continental drift theory opened the embryonic stage of activism, and its most important symbol was the recognition of the existence of large-scale horizontal movement. Before the 1960s, some paleontologists and paleogeographers had put forward groundbreaking inferences. In the research climax of plate theory as a geoscience revolution, geologists, based on the theory of global tectonic activity, applied contemporary paleomagnetic methods and mapping techniques to rebuild the ancient continent in geological history. Many scholars have compiled paleogeographic reconstruction maps and paleoclimate prediction maps in different geological and historical stages. Due to the lack of technology and data density, the scale of global mapping is still small and speculative. With the progress of paleomagnetism and mapping technology and the accumulation of data, substantial progress is being made in this field. Some scholars, such as Scotese, have established a database, and constantly revised the achievements of global and large-scale paleogeographic reconstruction according to the accumulation of new data. Mr. Sun Shu once commented on the research status and trend in this field at the Third National Sedimentology Conference. The above idea of paleogeography study of active structures quickly attracted the attention of petroleum geologists and sedimentary geologists. Some special studies are more valuable for the analysis of global oil and gas accumulation, such as the Atlas of Tethys Ancient by French scholar De galt. The successful combination of ancient continental reconstruction and the study of oil and gas accumulation law is embodied in the works of Clem and others. Klemme and others have studied the proportion of oil and gas resources formed by source rocks in various eras since the early Paleozoic on a global scale, and mapped the distribution map of large-scale oil and gas systems in the world on the basis of the reconstruction of the ancient continent. Thus, it reveals the paleoclimate zone of paleolatitude where the sedimentary basin is located and its relationship with the ancient ocean. In particular, the importance of high-quality source rocks in the late Jurassic and Cretaceous is emphasized-more than half of the world's oil and gas resources were formed during this period. This depends on the unique paleostructure, paleoclimate and paleo-marine environment at that time. The most prominent one is the huge oil and gas accumulation formed by passive marginal basins. On the passive edge of the Tethys Ocean, represented by the Arabian Gulf in the Middle East, the richest oil and gas accumulation zone in the world has been formed.
In geological history, the evolution of the basin and the changes of internal sedimentary palaeogeography are controlled by the structural attributes of the basin, the basin edge and the laws of structural activities in the basin. Different basins located in different plates or within the same plate have different evolution processes due to different tectonic attributes and tectonic activity laws of basin boundaries. Similarly, different dynamic environments in different parts of the same basin also create different sedimentary paleogeographic environments in the basin. Therefore, in the process of structural paleogeography analysis, we should follow the basic principles of structural basin control and basin facies grasp to complete structural-lithofacies paleogeography mapping.
About the idea of mapping, we can study tectonic palaeogeography from two aspects. Firstly, based on the literature research data, combined with the characteristics of tectonic evolution in the study area, according to the division of tectonic evolution stages, combined with the study of the nature and law of tectonic movement, the location, formation, active time, basin-controlling and facies-controlling mechanism of graben faults in the study area are found out. Secondly, based on the study of structure and large-scale faults, the basic data preparation of lithofacies palaeogeography mapping is completed, which mainly includes multiple division and correlation of lithostratigraphy, analysis of sedimentary environment of single profile, study of lateral sedimentary phase change law, and statistical arrangement of single factor data. On the basis of the above-mentioned basic data and map compilation, combined with the research results of the structure and basin evolution law in the study area, taking the sedimentary facies research method from point to line to surface as the basic idea, the corresponding lithofacies paleogeography mapping methods (such as rock ratio method, dominant facies method or single factor analysis method) are used to complete the structural paleogeography mapping in the study area. In fact, the analysis of lithofacies palaeogeography is inseparable from the analysis of basin structure and global structure, and structural analysis constitutes the basis and premise of palaeogeography analysis. However, as far as the scope of basin structural-lithofacies paleogeography analysis is concerned, more attention should be paid to the restoration and analysis of paleogeography of structural belts.
Paleogeography of orogenic belt is a theory and method to carry out paleogeography research in orogenic belt areas or areas undergoing orogenic transformation. Three points should be paid attention to in the research process: first, the uplift accumulation area in geological history can not be restored by the method of "discussing the present from the past"; Secondly, the distribution of sedimentary facies belt is controlled by regional tectonic stress field and basement structural pattern; Thirdly, the application of palaeogeography of primary sedimentary basin and tectonic basin (Wu Genyao, 2003) in basin tectonic-palaeogeography reconstruction is analyzed, and the core is to study the basin with the idea of development and dynamic evolution.
The coupling analysis of basin and mountain is the key to correctly understand the dynamic evolution of basin. The so-called basin-mountain coupling means that there is a unified kinematic process and dynamic mechanism between orogeny and basin evolution. As far as the contradiction between basin and mountain is concerned, mountain is often the main aspect. However, the internal structure of the orogenic belt is complex, the geological records are incomplete, and the geological phenomena often have multiple solutions. The geological records in the basin are relatively complete, and the comprehensive study of its kinematics brings valuable reference to the kinematic understanding of orogenic process, and the discussion of its basin-forming dynamic mechanism brings beneficial enlightenment to the understanding of orogenic dynamic mechanism. Therefore, when studying the kinematic characteristics of basin development with the idea of dynamic evolution, we should consciously strengthen the study of basin dynamics matching with orogenic dynamics.