The Tarim Basin, located in Northwest China, is the largest oilgasbearing basin on the mainland of China. Currently, there exist two viewpoints about its tectonictype and basement. Some geologists considered it a superimposed composite basin with a Precambrian continental basement. Some other geologists, however, reinterpreted it as a remnant back arc basin or composite of North and Southwest Tarim remnant interarc basins separated by Tazhong (central Tarim) relic arc, and underlain by oceanic lithosphere. H3 and H4, two petroleum exploratory wells (wild cats for oil and gas), located at Bachu Fault Uplift which is a part of the Tazhong tectonic unit (Tazhong Rise/Central Rise or Tazhong relic arc). Sixteen Silurian Carboniferous sandstone samples from H3 and eighteen Ordovician Carboniferous sandstone siltstone samples from H4 were collected for major element chemical analysis. Based on the analysis, the Silurian Carboniferous sedimentary tectonic setting and provenancenature of Bachu FaultUplift are discriminated with various methods. This discrimination shows that the sedimentary tectonic setting of Bachu block from the Silurian to Carboniferous was a stable continental craton basin, and had no obvious change. Its sedimentary provenance is a mature continent. This discrimination result indicates that the Tarim basin has a continental basement.
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