Tarim Basin is a large, superimposed basin rich in petroleum resources, which has experienced many stages of complex tectonic-sedimentary evolution. As the basic geological study of the Tarim Basin, the proto-type basin and tectono-paleogeographic evolution are of great significance for understanding the distribution of petroleum reservoirs in the superimposed basin and provide tectonic background and theoretical guidance for petroleum exploration. According to the residual thickness map, as well as other lithofacies and seismic data, the scopes of the proto-type basin are determined by the marginal facies method and the thickness trend method, and the shortening amounts are calculated by the balanced cross-section method. Based on these data and previous works, four proto-type basin maps of Tarim Basin in present-day geographic coordinates and four tectono-paleogeographic maps of Tarim Basin in paleogeographic coordinates during the early Paleozoic are reconstructed, which directly show the changes of sedimentary and uplift-depression pattern caused by the transformation of the tectonic environment from extension to compression. In the Cambrian, the Tarim Basin was controlled by the extensional tectonic environment, with the sedimentary framework of “carbonate platform in the west, deep-water basin in the east”. At the end of the Ordovician, the Kudi Ocean and the North Altyn Ocean were closed, and the Central and South Kunlun terrane and the Altyn-Qilian terrane were collaged with the Tarim block, which directly led to the transformation of the uplift-depression pattern in the Tarim Basin from east-west differentiation to north-south differentiation, thus changing the sedimentary environment of the Tarim Basin in the late Ordovician to Silurian.

The Tarim basin is a large composite and superimposed sedimentary basin that has undergone complex multi-period and polycyclic tectonic movements. Understanding the proto-type basin and tectono-paleogeographic evolution of this complex superimposed basin is important for understanding the basin-mountain coupling and dynamical mechanisms of the Paleo-Asian and Tethys tectonic systems as well as hydrocarbon exploration and development. Based on previous works, together with the recent exploration, and geological evidences, three global plate tectonic pattern maps, four Tarim proto-type basin maps (in present-day geographic coordinates) and four regional tectono-paleogeography maps (in paleogeographic coordinates) during the Late Paleozoic are provided in this paper. Based on these maps, the proto-type basin and tectono-paleogeographic features of the Tarim basin during the Late Paleozoic are illustrated. The Devonian to Permian is an important period of terranes/island-arcs accretion and oceanic closure along the periphery of the Tarim block, and a critical period when the polarity of Tarim basin (orientation of basin long-axis) rotated at the maximum angle clockwise. During the Late Paleozoic, the periphery of the Tarim block was first collisional orogeny on its northern margin, followed by continuous collisional accretion of island arcs on its southern margin: on the Northern margin, the North and South Tianshan Oceans closed from East to West; on the South-Western margin, the Tianshuihai Island Arc gradually collided and accreted. These tectonic events reduced the extent of the seawater channel of the passive continental margin in the Western part of the basin until its complete closure at the end of the Permian. The Tarim basin was thus completely transformed into an inland basin. This is a process of regression and uplift. The Southwest of the Tarim basin changed from a passive to an active continental margin, through back-arc downwarping and eventually complete closure to foreland setting. The intra-basin lithofacies range from shelf-littoral to platform-tidal flat to alluvial plain-lacustrine facies. The tectonic-sedimentary evolution of the Tarim basin is strongly controlled by peripheral geotectonic setting.

The Tarim Basin is the largest sedimentary basin in China, and it has experienced a complex tectonic evolutionary history. Reconstruction of the proto-type basin and tectono-paleogeography is helpful to understand the different stages of evolution of the sedimentary basin and basin-mountain relationship. It is significant to combine the basin with the regional tectonic background to discuss the process of basin-mountain coupling and the tectonic evolution of the peripheral orogenic belts. With a reliable residual thickness map and lithofacies map of the Tarim Basin in the Cenozoic, based on the amount of shortening we quantified from previous works and 81 balanced cross-sections, we restored the original range and compiled the proto-type basin map of Tarim Basin. From a compilation of previous studies on the lithofacies of peripheral blocks, the tectono-paleogeography of the Tarim Basin in Cenozoic has been reconstructed. The Indian Plate collided with the Eurasian continent at ∼45–40 Ma. The remote effect of the collision led to the resurrection and reactivation of the Kunlun and Tianshan Mountains. The Southwest Tarim and Kuqa rejuvenated foreland basins separately developed along the north front of the Kunlun Mountains and the south front of the Tianshan Mountains. The tectonic evolution process of the Tarim Basin in the Cenozoic was divided into two stages: 1) in the Paleogene, the Neo-Tethys Ocean retreated stepwise westward from the Southwest of the Tarim Basin, and the sedimentary lithofacies of the Southwest Tarim Depression were bay lagoon facies and lake facies; 2) the Neo-Tethys Ocean retreat finally occurred in the Tarim Basin during the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene, and it became an almost closed terrestrial basin, with the deposition of fluvial facies and lacustrine facies. The Cenozoic tectono-paleogeography of the Tarim Basin is closely related to the closure of the Neo-Tethys Ocean and the reactivation of the Kunlun and Tianshan Mountains.