The general setting of Tarim basin was shown in compression at Late Hercynian orogeny.

From the Middle Proterozoic to Early Paleozoic, the Tarim plate and the Qangtang-Yangtze plate were most probably disintegrated.

Sanweishan fault is one of the Altun tectonic system which lies in the joint of the Huabei slab and Tarim slab.