Continental crust of China: A brief guide for the perplexed

China covers approximately 10 million km2 and its crust has a complicated evolution of amalgamation, igneous activity, and sedimentation. Many studies address various aspects of China's crust, but few provide a simple geological and geophysical overview that is accessible to students and non-specialists; Filling this void is the objective of this review. China is characterized by thick (40–75 km) crust in the west due to Cenozoic collision with India and thin (30–40 km thick) crust in the east due to E–W Mesozoic-Cenozoic backarc extension. In contrast, overall crustal fabric trends E–W, defined by ophiolite belts and ultra-high pressure metamorphic rocks. This crustal fabric indicates that China has grown like a sandwich, with crust progressively added through Phanerozoic time by closing various E–W oriented Tethys oceans and seaways. In map view, China consists of five E–W trending tiers.