To study the Jurassic depositional environmental evolution and the prototype basin in the Dunhuang Basin,NW China.Methods:The paper used seismic data,aeromagnetic data,field geological survey data,and isotope quantitative dating data,based on the results obtained by predecessors in the structural theory of the Altyn fault system,the Dunhuang Basin’s basement lithological composition,deep dynamic background,basin development time limit and the nature of the basin has been systematically studied.Results:It is believed that the Dunhuang Basin,Tarim Basin,Qaidam Basin,and the Jiuquan Basin have different pre-Jurassic basement lithological composition.The Jurassic basin is a relatively independent basin.The southern boundary of the Dunhuang block is the Hongliugou-Lapeiquan fault,the western boundary is the Minfeng-Qiemo fault,and the Altyn main fault is the eastern boundary of the Dunhuang Basin.The Sanweishan fault is a basin-controlling fault that separates the north and south sags of the Dunhuang Basin.The Minfeng-Qiemo fault,Hongliugou-Lapeiquan fault,and Altyn main fault are basin-controlling faults. The multiple driving mechanisms such as the northward ultra-deep subduction of the southern margin of the Qinghai-Xizang(Tibetan) Plateau,the shallow intracontinental southward subduction of the northern margin, and the deep mantle plume structure have caused the Dunhuang block to be a state of uplift and denudation for most of the time since the Phanerozoic,and it rarely accepts deposition.It was not until the Jurassic collapsed that the Dunhuang Basin was formed. The Dunhuang Basin was a Jurassic sedimentary basin,which resulted from the stress relaxation between two northward collision of the Qinghai-Xizang(Tibet) Plateau between the Triassic and the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous.Conclusion: The Jurassic Dunhuang Basin is a relatively independent basin,the evolution of the Dunhuang Basin has undergone 3 stages: the Early Jurassic filling stage,the Middle Jurassic rift stage and the Late Jurassic depression stage,and the Middle Jurassic rift stage is the main basin-forming stage.