Hydrothermal dolomite, due to its significant impact on reservoir quality and complex mineralization, has received significant attention for many decades. Regional studies in many superimposed basins have produced extensive petrographic and geochemical data sets, and, together with recent technological advancements, provide a robust framework for comparative analysis. Compilation of published data supplemented by new petrographic, rare earth element, and U-Pb dating data enabled a meta-analysis of the geodynamic settings, fluid sources, paleohydrologic models, and growth processes of the interpreted hydrothermal dolomite. This study confirms that the interpreted hydrothermal dolomite in the Tarim Basin primarily originated from deep-sourced hydrothermal fluids that underwent extensive water–rock reaction. However, variations in hydrothermal fluids are noted across different periods and regions. The δ18O values of saddle dolomites suggest an upward, unidirectional, pulsating migration of fluids (rather than large-scale thermal fluid convection), which led to hydrothermal modification recrystallization. This study is the first to document that parts of the interpreted hydrothermal dolomites in the Tarim Basin formed during the Late Devonian–Permian. Micrometer-scale growth zones in hydrothermal dolomites correspond to changes in fluid chemistry, which may be related to rapid precipitation under conditions of limited water-rock interaction during episodic pulses of hydrothermal fluid and the host rock. Hydrothermal dolomitization can occur at various stages of superimposed basins, not just shortly after deposition in an extensional tectonic setting. Under favorable geodynamic conditions, the distribution of hydrothermal dolomite over time and space was primarily controlled by fault movements.