CHAPTER 3: AN OVERVIEW OF THE GEOLOGY OF CHINA WITH SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO GOLD OCCURENCES

摘要

China is located in the eastern portion of the Eurasian tectonic plate, with the Philippine and Pacific plates to the east and the Indian plate to the south. The continental land mass of China has evolved from a complex, long-term interaction between these plates, which are themselves the products of numerous interactions between former microplates and terranes. The oldest of these terranes is the North China craton (or Sino-Korean platform) and consists of an Archean to early Proterozoic basement composed of metamorphic complexes and intrusives, dated as early as 3500 Ma, with a cover of Proterozoic to Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, largely of marine origin.