Abstract: According to the high-resolution and high-a ccuracy analysis on the paleomagnetic dating for profile and the seismic growth sequence, it is believed that at least 10 stages of structura lmovement and three structura lepisodics hav e occurred in the Altun slope area of western Qaidam Basin since the Cenozoic era , indica ting that the Altun area has undergone three a ccelerate-uplift sta ges. In general, this area has foreland characteristics. The Paleogene is the main developed area of hydrocarbon source rocks in western Qaidam Basin, of which thrusting is the main structura l feature and the sedimentary and subsidence centers are relativ ely stable. Strike-slip flexuring is the main structural feature of the Neogene and its depositional and subsidence centers obv iously migrate from southwest to northeast along Altun fault. The vertica l basin-oriented Altun Orogenic belt can be divided into the high fault-nose belt in the front of mounta in a rea , the low fault-nose belt in the middle pa rt, the lea ding thrusting belt a nd the recoiling belt in the Pa leogene of Qa idam Basin. It is the superimposition of multistage thrusting, strike-slip, and tilting uplift that formed the current structural traps in the Altun slope area of western Qaidam Basin. The well-developed structural traps, unconformity traps, and lithological traps are the main structural trap types in this region and they ha ve certa in potential for oil and gas exploration.

Key words: paleomagnetic dating, growth sequence a nalysis, the evolution of ba sin, structura l superimposition, trap: Altun slope a rea, Qaidam Ba sin