Abstract:
This article provides an interpret at ion of the mosaic photos of the Tarim platform taken from setellite. The Tarim platform is a rhombic block defined by the previously existing boundary rift system. The arcuate rift system can be divided into two groups, one trending NWW-SEE and the other NEE-SWW. Most of the rifts have been mapped by previous geological research. There develop an "X" shaped and a "Y" shaped rift systems within the platform. A Ruoqiang shear structure system appears in the southeastern part of the platform and an arcuate interlayer slipping system resulted from lateral compression develops in the peripheral areas. The tectonic history includes three stages, the first is the stage of formation and stabilization; the second is the stage of activation and disintegration and the third is the stage of superimposition and transformation. The present day structural framework is resulted from the tectonic movement of the latest stage, as it is more intensely transformed in the southern part as compared with the northern part, in the western part as compared with the eastern part and in the marginal areas as compared with the central part.