Oblique strike-slip structures along the Jinshajiang suture zone in north-western Yunnan

The strike-slip transform structures originated from oblique collision are believed to be the principal structural patterns commonly observed in continental orogenic zones. The occurrence of oblique strike-slip structures along the Jinshajiang suture zone in northwestern Yunnan resulted in the closure of the renewed Jinshajiang oceanic basin, and continent-continent collision at the end of Indosinian. The present paper deals, in detail, with the oblique strike-slip structures and other geological phenomena in the Tuoding region, Yunnan based on the data on the geological survey of the Ludian and Xiaruo sheets, The oblique escape is interpreted to be the cause of thinning of the crust and uplift of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and thus to be the important patterns of the interplay of the continental masses along the Jinshajiang suture during intracontinental convergence.