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Inclined eastward and consisting of the Hetianhe, Hetianhedong, Tazhong paleouplifts and Bachu paleoslope, the central paleouplift belt in the Tarim Basin was a large composite paleouplift and paleoslope belt with complicated palaeogeomorphic features during the Middle to early Late Ordovician. A number of paleostructural geomorphic elements have been identified in the paleouplift belt and surrounding areas, such as the high uplift belts, the faulted uplift platforms, the marginal slopes and slope break zones flanking the paleouplift belt, the surrounding shelf slopes or low relief ramps, the shelf slope break zones and deep basin plains. They exerted great influence on the development of paleogeography of the basin. The marginal slopes and slope break zones flanking the uplift belt constrained the formation and deposition of the high-energy facies including reefal and shoal deposits during the Late Ordovician, which comprise the major reservoirs of the Lower Paleozoic in the basin. Toward the end of the Ordovician, the Tazhong paleouplift hinged westward and became a westward-dipped nose as the southeastern margin of the basin was strongly compressed and uplifted. The tectono-paleogeomorphic framework of the central northern basin during the Early Silurian and the Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous changed remarkably in topography from the initial low in east and high in west to high in northeast and low in southwest. The major paleogeomorphic elements developed in these periods included the strong eroded uplift high, the uplift marginal slope, the gentle ramp of the depression margin and the depression belt. The sandstones of the lowstand and the early transgressive systems tracts were deposited along the uplift marginal slopes and the gentle ramps of the depressions comprise the prolific reservoirs in the basin. The study indicates that the distribution patterns of the unconformities within the basin are closely related to the paleogeomorphic features and evolution of the paleouplift belt. From the high uplift belt to the depression, we found the composed unconformity belts at the high uplift, the truncated and onlap triangular unconformity belts along the uplift marginal slopes, the minor angular unconformity or discontinuity belts along the transitional zones from the uplift marginal slopes to depression and the conformity belt in the central depression. The truncated and the onlap triangular unconformity belts are the favorable zones for the formation of stratigraphic trap reservoirs. palaeostructural geomorphology, unconformity distribution patterns, central paleouplift belt, Tarim Basin

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Seismic and drilling well data were used to examine the occurrence of multiple stratigraphic unconformities in the Tarim Basin, NW China. The Early Cambrian, the Late Ordovician and the late Middle Devonian unconformities constitute three important tectonic sequence boundaries within the Palaeozoic succession. In the Tazhong, Tabei, Tadong uplifts and the southwestern Tarim palaeo-uplift, unconformities obviously belong to superimposed unconformities. A superimposed unconformity is formed by superimposition of unconformities of multiple periods. Areas where superimposed unconformities develop are shown as composite belts of multiple tectonic unconformities, and as higher uplift areas of palaeo-uplifts in palaeogeomorphologic units. The contact relationship of unconformities in the lower uplift areas is indicative of truncation-overlap. A slope belt is located below the uplift areas, and the main and secondary unconformities are characterized by local onlap reflection on seismic profiles. The regional dynamics controlled the palaeotectonic setting of the Palaeozoic rocks in the Tarim Basin and the origin and evolution of the basin constrained deposition. From the Sinian to the Cambrian, the Tarim landmass and its surrounding areas belonged to an extensional tectonic setting. Since the Late Ordovician, the neighbouring north Kunlun Ocean and Altyn Ocean was transformed from a spreading ocean basin to a closed compressional setting. The maximum compression was attained in the Late Ordovician. The formation of a tectonic palaeogeomorphologic evolution succession from a cratonic margin aulacogen depression to a peripheral foreland basin in the Early Caledonian cycle controlled the deposition of platform, platform margin, and deep-water basin. Tectonic uplift during the Late Ordovician resulted in a shallower basin which was followed by substantial erosion. Subsequently, a cratonic depression and peripheral or back-arc foreland basin began their development in the Silurian to Early-Middle Devonian interval. In this period, the Tabei Uplift, the Northern Depression and the southern Tarim palaeo-uplift showed obvious control on depositional systems, including onshore slope, shelf and deep-water basin. The southern Tarim Plate was in a continuous continental compressional setting after collision, whereas the southern Tianshan Ocean began to close in the Early Ordovician and was completely closed by the Middle Devonian. At the same time, further compression from peripheral tectonic units in the eastern and southern parts of the Tarim Basin led to the expansion of palaeo-uplift in the Late Devonian-Early Carboniferous interval, and the connection of the Tabei Uplift and Tadong Uplift, thus controlling onshore, fluvial delta, clastic coast, lagoon-bay and shallow marine deposition.

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The sequence architecture and depositional evolution of the Ordovician carbonate platform margins in the Tarim Basin, China, were formed in response to the interplay of tectonism and sea‐level change, their history being documented by the integrated analysis of many seismic lines, drilling and outcrop data. The Ordovician carbonate system in the basin is divided into four composite sequences defined by major unconformities. Each sequence consists of a regional depositional cycle from transgression with an onlapping transgressive systems tract (TST) to regression with a prograding highstand systems tract (HST), and can be further subdivided into 10 third‐order sequences based on subordinate discontinuous boundaries at the carbonate platform marginal zones. Constrained by the marginal slope of the early‐rifted Manjiaer aulacogen, the carbonate platform margins of the Lower and Middle Ordovician that prograded eastward in an arcuate belt extending generally north‐south across the northern part of the basin. The development of the Tazhong uplift due to compression resulted in an extensive paleokarst hiatus between the Middle and the Upper Ordovician in the south‐central basin, and subsequently constrained the formation of a peninsula‐shaped carbonate platform whose margins were controlled by marginal thrust‐fault belts of the paleo‐uplift during the Late Ordovician. In the northern basin, the Late Ordovician carbonate platform margin developed around the marginal slope of the Tabei paleouplift. The transgressive–regressive cycles of the carbonate system are comparable and seem to have occurred simultaneously across the entire basin, suggesting that the cyclic sequence architecture was fundamentally controlled by eustatic fluctuations. Stacking patterns of the composite sequences varied due to the interplay between the accommodation produced by tectonism and sea‐level change, and the carbonate production rate. The reef–shoal facies complexes that developed along the platform margins, with paleokarst development at unconformities, constitute the major reservoir of large petroleum reserves in the basin.