Yangtze Platform

The Yangtze Platform covers the areas of the middle and lower Yangtze River, including most areas in Sichuan, Hubei, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Anhui, and Jiangsu Provinces, southern Shaanxi Province and northern Guangxi Province. This platform is surrounded by mountain ranges, including the Daba Mountains and Micang Mountains to the north, the Wuling Mountains and Jiuling Mountains to the east, and the Longmen Mountains to the west. The basement is composed of Proterozoic metamorphic rocks, which are approximately 1.7 billion to 2.3 billion years old. Older rocks may be present beneath the platform. Approximately 800 million years ago, the Jinning movement formed the unified Yangtze Platform. The early Neoproterozoic Era was a period of extensive fracturing, and widespread marine sedimentation began in the Nanhuan Period (Middle Triassic). In addition, extensive basaltic eruptions occurred in the western part of the platform in the middle Permian. Some researchers believe that mantle...