CENTRAL GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, MOEA

	Introduction
	Earlier Geologic Maps of Taiwan
	Geographic Setting
	General Geology And Geologic Provinces Of Taiwan
	Explanation Of Legend And Representation Of Geologic Data
	Eastern Central Range
	Western Central Range Backbone Ridges
	Western Foothills
	Eastern Coastal Range
	Geology Of The Hengchun Peninsula
	Major Geologic Features Of Taiwan
	Plate Tectonic Setting
	References

:::Western Foothills

General Stratigraphy	Oligocene Stratigraphic Units	Miocene Stratigraphic Units	Miocene Rocks on Tiaoyutai Island	Pliocene Stratigraphic Units
Quaternary Stratigraphic Units	Volcanism and Volcanic Rocks	Diastrophism and Orogenic Movements	General Structural Features	Geologic History

The geologic province of the western foothills is the site of a Late Cenozoic sedimentary basin west of the Central Range. Recent paleontologic studies indicate that sedimentation in this basin began in Oligocene time and continued into the early Pleistocene, Major orogeny began in early Pleistocene time, and all the sedimentary units in this western basin have been folded and faulted to form the geologic structures of the western foothills. The western foothills are composed of a series of mountains and rolling hills flanking the western margin of the Central Range, but the boundary between the two is topographically not well-defined. The geologic boundary, however, is marked by the Chuchih fault, a tectonic line that separates the western foothills from the upthrust argillite-slate series of the Central Range to the east.

The western foothills gradually merge westward into the tablelands and coastal plains bordering the Taiwan Strait. The Penghu Islands in the Taiwan Strait and the Hengchun Peninsula at the southern tip of the island of Taiwan are also included in this geologic province. Since the Restitution of Taiwan, this geologic province has been extensively studied and mapped, because it is the most important one economically, including all the leading coal and oil fields of Taiwan. These deposits of fossil fuels may also continue westward under the western coastal plains and offshore areas. Therefore the western foothills make up the most well-known geologic province of Taiwan, and pertinent geologic data are much more abundant than those of the other provinces.

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