思茅坳陷位于藏滇地槽褶皱系滇西褶皱带的东南隅,北西与兰坪拗陷联成一体,是滇西中、新生代最重要的坳陷区,南延至东南亚各国,总体呈南北向绵延千多公里,本区仅三百多公里,兰坪以北与昌都坳陷连接,东隔哀牢山与滇中坳陷相望,西与保山坳陷毗连。 The Simao Depression is located in the southeast corner of the Yunnan-Yunnan geosynclinal fold system in the western Yunnan fold belt. The northwest and the Lanping depression are united and are the most important depression regions in Meso-Cenozoic in western Yunnan and extended to all countries in Southeast Asia in the south, It stretches more than 1,000 kilometers to the area only 300 kilometers away. It connects to the Qamdo Depression in the north of Lanping, across the Ailao Mountains to the east and across the Yunnan-Central Depression and west to the Baoshan Depression.