THE EPSILON-TYPE STRUCTURAL SYSTEM OF SOUTH CHINA

The frontal arc of the epsilon-type structural system of South China is distributed on the continental margin of South China and Northern Vietnam,the apex of which reaching as far southwards as the northern side of the Xisha Islands latitudinal structural system.The west reflex arc appears at the Nianqingtanggula-Boshula mountains and its southern side,whereas the east reflex arc is located in the southern Yellow Sea.There are Mesozoic-Cenozoic magmatites and dynamometamorphic rocks along the arcuate belt.The backbone is mainly represented by the N-S-extending fold belt starting from Sichuan,Guizhou,Yunnan,to Guangxi province.The structural system began to develop during the Indo-sinian orogeny,took full shape in the Yanshanian movement,and had a strong activity in the Himalayan epoch.Its determination is conducive to the knowledge of tectonic framework of South China,and its relation to the distribution of mineral resources.It also provides the fresh evidence for the way in which East Asia continent moved.In face,it is the tie between the Tethys tectonic domain and the Pacific tectonic domain.