The Helan-Chuandian N-S Tectonic Belt is a mantle transitional belt in China. The southem part, forming the Chuandian N-S Tectonic Belt, comprises several tectonic systems, each displaying different characteristics. The Chuandian N-S Tectonic Belt along the western margin of yangtze Block is a strike-slip tectonic belt with a series of echelon left-lateral slip faults. The strike-slip fault systems experienced two stages of structural deformation： early NW-SE striking thrust faults formed under a NE-SW compression stress field, and later sinistral strike-slip structures formed along thrust faults under a NW-SE compression stress field. Mesozoic basins developed between the left-lateral slip faults. Sedimentary facies and paleocurrent directions indicate that basin development was controlled by the strike-slip faults. The oldest strata in the Chuandian N-S Tectonic Belt constrain its formation to early Mesozoic. In fact, The slip tectonic belt formed by clockwise rotation and north-directed subduction-collision of the Yangtze Block in Late Triassic-Jurassic. The strike-slip faults that developed within the belt also formed at this time.
