MESO-CENOZOIC INTRACONTINENTAL OROGENIC PROCESS IN THE BEIJING AREA——A Case Study Based on Geological Observations from the Ming Tombs to Badaling Mountain

The magnificent Yanshan Mountains, famous for their unique structural features, lie north of the North China Plain. They are the place o f the world-renowned Meso-Neoproterozoic stratotype(formerly called the "Sini an System of Northern China" or the "Sinian Suberathem"), the area of the old est continental crust exposed in China, and the place from which the well-known Yanshanian Movement was named. The field trip route of the Ming Tombs-Longqing Gorge-Badaling extends in a NW direction across the NE-trending Archean metam orphic complex, famous Meso-Neoproterozoic stratotype, Mesozoic tectono-magmatic belt and Cenozoic basin-range system. Through observations of the tectonic features and stratigraphic system along the traverse, one can gain a general know ledge of the Meso-Cenozoic intracontinental orogenic process of the Beijing are a in the western segment of the Yanshanian intracontinental (intraplate) orogenic belt.