Abstract:The continent-continent collision is the dominant process for formation of the supercontinents. Although abundant researches focus on special collisional belt, the comparisons among different belts are lack. Here we choose Pyrenees, Alpine, Zagros, and Himalayan-Tibetan collisional orogenic belts in the southern margin of the Eurasia continent for case studies. Those collisional belts are youngest and most spectacular on the Earth; all of them are formed related to the evolution of the Tethys. The Tethyan Ocean was horn geography in Permian, which means the ocean is narrow in the west and broad in the east. This geographic character is important for the Tethyan blocks motion and convergence. The compositions, architecture, and tectonic evolution of those collisional belts were compared to test general evolution processes of continental collision. Four basic types of collision belts were identified: orthogonal and asymmetric (Tibet), orthogonal and symmetric (Pyrenees), oblique and symmetric (Alpine), and oblique and asymmetric (Zagros). Synthesizing the collisional related deformation sequences and magmatic activities of those four collisional orogens has led to rebuild the general tectonic evolution of collisional belts, which includes three major processes: (1) syn-collisional continental convergence, (2) late-collisional tectonic transform, and (3) post-collisional crustal extension. The Pyrenees orogen developed large scale shorting during the collision between the Iberian plate and the European continent, and then became extension setting affected by the opening of the Valencia Trough. Two stages can be recognized from the Zagros orogen: syn-collision (35~10 Ma), and post-collision (<10 Ma). Some N S-trending right-lateral transpressional faults developed in the Zagros to accommodate collisional convergence. The collision-related, large-scale crustal extension, which always occurs in the third process of the collisional belts, is not observed in the Zagros orogen. The three-stage evolution of collision in the Alpine orogen is similar to that in the Tibetan Himalayan orogen. But the Alpine orogen has more high grade metamorphic rocks and more complex thrust nappe systems. Furthermore, the convergence rate between Adriatic plate and the European plate is limit. Those features suggest that the evolution of the Alpine belts has more mature than that of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen. The symmetric orogen (i.e., Pyrenees or Alpine) has an architecture with fold-and-thrust zone and foreland basin on each side of the central axial uplift zone, whereas the asymmetric belt (Zagros or Himalayan-Tibetan) has a broad collisional magmatic zone and collisional deformation zone. This may be caused by a weak lithosphere under the hanging side of the collisional orogen.