Abstract: The Quaternary of the Chengdu Basin contains abundant geological information. After being studied for decades, there are still some disputes over the Quaternary sedimentary environment and evolution and the filling sequence of basin, etc., on the whole even though some common perspectives have been reached with regard to stratigraphic architecture and structural characteristics. Particularly, more aspects must be further studied, including gravel characteristics and response to tectonic activity.
Keywords: The Chengdu Basin, Quaternary, Sedimentation, Gravel
1.Introduction
Figure 1. The geological map of Chengdu Basin.
Situated in the west of the Sichuan Basin, the Chengdu Basin stands between Longmen Mountain and Longquan Mountain in the east-west direction and extends to Xiushui of Qi’an County in the north and the regions of Mingshan and Pengshan in the south (Figure 1). In the late Cenozoic era, the edge of the basin descended abruptly to form a highly thick layer of Quaternary sediments dominated by sedimentation of mountain-front molasse and sand-conglomerate (Liu, 1983), while Longmen Mountain was uplifted dramatically at the southeastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The formation is not only attributed to climatic conditions and effect of water flow, but also restricted by the strength and pattern of tectonic movement, so it contains abundant information on tectonic movement and deformation. In addition to ideal geographic and tectonic conditions, the region is always one of the key regions in the study on the late Cenozoic deformation of plateau, the uplift of plateau and the paleogeographic and palaeoclimatic changes (Xu et al., 1997). Meanwhile, it is also crucial to the study on the changes of climate & water system and ecological environment in the upstream region of the Yangtze River (Liang et al. 2014).
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