Abstract: The thin-skinned layer-block structures confined by the reverse dip-slip fault in a leading edge, normal dip-slip fault in a back edge and strike-slip faults (lateral sinistral and/or dextral fault)widely developed in the middle-lower Yangtze River area, may result from layering of rock materials and energy, and structures as well as layer sliding.
The mechanism for the dip-slip and strike-slip in the layer-block structure in the shallow crust is similar to that in terrane and plate tectonics at depth, and to the origin of the slip-apart and tear-apart fractures in fracture mechanics and the knifeedge and helical dislocations in solid physics.