Abstract: Constrained by structural styles in outcrops,thickness of strata and seismic sections, three regional cross sections were constructed across the main structural units in Lower Yangtze region. These cross sections display the superimposition of early compressional and late extensional tectonic features, and also reveal some spatial differences in the deformation styles. According to the strata involved in the deformation, cross-cutting relationships, the types and distribution of unconformities, we confirm the thrusts and folds in the north of the region were formed during Middle-Late Triassic,while in the Middle-Late Jurassic for those in the south; intensive rifting occurred in the whole region during Late Cretaceous and continued into Paleogene in the north; extensive depression has developed in the north since Neogene, while it took place only during Quaternary in the south. The Lower Paleozoic of Suzhou-Wuxi area is favorable for hydrocarbon exploration as it was not destructed by rifting.