摘要
The South China Plate was formed by collision of the Yangtze and Cathaysian plates as a result of the Caledonian Movement. At the beginning of the Early Devonian, most of South China was above sea level, apart from the deep Qinzhou trough and Qujing Remnant Lake. The Devonian transgression began in the South West or South, and spread to the North East or North. Its extent was limited in the Early and early Middle Devonian, but by Givetian time had increased to cover a vast area of South China, including parts of present day (Guangxi) Hunan Province, southern Guizhou Province and eastern Yunnan Province. As a result, the Givetian probably marked the acme of rugose coral development on the South China Plate. Metazoan reefs, with highly diversified reef-building stromatoporoid sponges and both tabulate and rugose corals, flourished.
