Abstract: Owing to the continent continent collision between the North China and Yangtze plates during the Indosinian early Yanshanian period, the Lower Yangtze region south of the collision belt developed into a foreland deformation belt. In this belt, the thrust nappe system north of the Yangtze River moved southward while the system south of Yangtze River moved northward, showing two thrust-nappe systems with opposite thrusting senses. The dynamic force for the foreland deformation north of the Yangtze River came from collision between the North China and Yangtze plates along the Dabieshan Jiaonan orogenic belt. The dynamics for the foreland deformation south of the Yangtze River was derived from the intraplate orogeny in the Jiangnan uplift.