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76-527: The geology of Russia , the world's largest country, which extends over much of northern Eurasia , consists of several stable cratons and sedimentary platforms bounded by orogenic (mountain) belts . European Russia is on the East European craton , at the heart of which is a complex of igneous and metamorphic rocks dating back to the Precambrian . The craton is bounded on the east by

152-585: A 2,500 kilometre (1,600 mi) long mountain chain that runs north–south at approximately 60° E longitude, formed in the Ural orogeny , a long series of mountain-building events occurring at the eastern margin of what is now the East European craton in association with its collision with another microcontinent (the Kazakhstania terrane ) to the east. The first phase of orogenic development occurred in

228-448: A dome features concentric rings of strata . If the top of a dome has been eroded flat, the resulting structure in plan view appears as a bullseye , with the youngest rock layers at the outside, and each ring growing progressively older moving inwards. These strata would have been horizontal at the time of deposition , then later deformed by the uplift associated with dome formation. There are many possible mechanisms responsible for

304-638: A late Neoproterozoic mountain-building event coincident with the Cadomian orogeny in western Europe. The Timan-Pechora Basin is a sedimentary basin that lies between the Timan Ridge and the Urals foreland basin. The basin extends into the southern part of the Barents Sea and includes Kolguyev Island . It is covered by 6 to 12 kilometres (3.7 to 7.5 mi) of sediments that were deposited during

380-502: A more efficient path to the ocean than the existing Volga–Don Canal . This usage can also be seen in the names of Eurasianet , The Journal of Eurasian Studies , and the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies , as well as the titles of numerous academic programmes at US universities. This usage is comparable to how Americans use " Western Hemisphere " to describe concepts and organizations dealing with

456-536: A new set of structures and the rotation of pre-existing structures. The latest Jurassic to early Cretaceous (early Albian) thrusting, and a late Cretaceous to Cenozoic deformational event correspond to assumed proto-Pacific plate motions based on palaeomagnetic data. The Sakhalin Cenozoic orogeny is divided into East and West zones separated by the Central Sakhalin graben. Oil and gas are associated with

532-591: A plagio gneiss - enderbite , and the upper is made up of biotite and gneisses and garnets mixed with biotite. The Okhotsk-Chukotka Volcanic Belt stretches 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) from the settlement of Okhotsk and runs along the northern shore of the Sea of Okhotsk . In the Shelikhov Gulf the belt runs northeast across most of the Chukchi Peninsula and then bends southeast and runs along

608-653: A series of marine regression and transgression events from the Proterozoic to the Cenozoic . The eastern basin was deformed when the Ural mountains were formed. The Basin is further divided into the Izhma-Pechora basin, Pechora-Kolva basin, Khoreiver basin and the Northern Pre-Urals. The Volgo-Uralian Block is a basement of Archean craton covered by younger sediments, making up the eastern third of

684-415: A system that has an established density gradient (see Rayleigh–Taylor instability ). To reach equilibrium, parcels from a stratum composed of less-dense material will rise towards Earth's surface, creating formations that are most often expressed in cross-section as "tear drop"-shaped, where the rounded end is that closest to the surface of the overlying strata. If overlying strata are weak enough to deform as

760-523: A thick 'basin fill' of sedimentary deposits ranging from Jurassic to Cenozoic in age. There are two major north–south trending rift structures of Triassic age buried beneath the basin fill: the Urengoy and the Khudosey rift . These rifts are mainly filled with Lower Triassic basic volcanic rocks. The West Siberian basin and its offshore portions in the south Kara sea are the largest oil province in

836-704: Is a 2,300 kilometre (1,400 mi) long chain of volcanic islands stretching from the Kamchatka peninsula to Hokkaido (Japan). The islands formed as a part of the Kurile-Kamchatkan subduction system when the Pacific Plate started to subduct under the Okhotsk Plate during the Paleogene . This process is still active today with 40 of its 100 volcanoes being active. Currently the subduction

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912-484: Is a feature in structural geology where a circular part of the Earth's surface has been pushed upward, tilting the pre-existing layers of earth away from the center. In technical terms, it consists of symmetrical anticlines that intersect each other at their respective apices . Intact, domes are distinct, rounded, spherical -to- ellipsoidal -shaped protrusions on the Earth's surface. A slice parallel to Earth's surface of

988-520: Is a single supercontinent . The concepts of Europe and Asia as distinct continents date back to antiquity , but their borders have historically been subject to change. For example, to the ancient Greeks , Asia originally included Africa but they classified Europe as separate land. Eurasia is connected to Africa at the Suez Canal , and the two are sometimes combined to describe the largest contiguous landmass on Earth, Afro-Eurasia . Primarily in

1064-530: Is a system of basins and platforms. It is divided into smaller basins, in the North, the North Caspian Basin. The north is a basin at the edge of the cratons to the north. It is composed of Paleozoic carbonate platforms. The North Basin overlies a basement of European Craton. Mesozoic and Tertiary sediments deposited by a variety of methods have covered the continental crust. The Ural Mountains ,

1140-420: Is characterized by current day volcanism ( 28 active volcanoes ), coinciding with recent graben -like structures. The Koryak fold and thrust belt consists of Lower Palaeozoic to Cenozoic terranes, including early Carboniferous metamorphic terranes composed of folds, domes and shear zones with related high-pressure and low-temperature metamorphism. The latest Jurassic to early Cretaceous (early Albian) thrusting

1216-560: Is composed of granodiorite batholiths , mostly of the Udskaya series, which contains Mesozoic massifs in the form of intrusions of granite , granodiorite, and diorite . Seismic activity in the area is found in an east trending narrow zone, called the Stanovoy strike-slip zone. In the range, this belt is revealed by strike-slip displacement. This left fault joins the Sea of Okhotsk to

1292-471: Is disputed, since Mount Elbrus would be part of Europe in the latter case, making it (and not Mont Blanc ) Europe's highest mountain. Most accepted is probably the boundary as defined by Philip Johan von Strahlenberg in the 18th century. He defined the dividing line along the Aegean Sea , Dardanelles , Sea of Marmara , Bosporus , Black Sea , Kuma–Manych Depression , Caspian Sea , Ural River , and

1368-674: Is mostly limited to the Miocene . It is also the age of sedimentary rocks in some basins, and the same series lasted into the Eocene . Rifting resumed beginning in the Oligocene , and is commonly held to have increased since the middle Pliocene , causing the formation of basins in the form of grabens. The new rift structure may follow the Precambrian and Paleozoic faults. Magmatic activity and rifting may also be independent events. Outside of

1444-633: Is oblique and progressing at 8.6 centimetres (3.4 in) per year. The Kuril–Kamchatka Trench on the Pacific side of the islands is one of the deepest ones known, with parts reaching 10.5 kilometres (6.5 mi) in depth. In the north the Kurile island arc connects with the Aleutian arc at the Kamchatka-Aleutian junction. The West Kamchatka orogen is a regional geosynclinal complex of

1520-527: Is often used in Kazakhstan to describe its location. Numerous Kazakh institutions have the term in their names, like the L. N. Gumilev Eurasian National University ( Kazakh : Л. Н. Гумилёв атындағы Еуразия Ұлттық университеті ; Евразийский Национальный университет имени Л. Н. Гумилёва ) ( Lev Gumilev 's Eurasianism ideas having been popularized in Kazakhstan by Olzhas Suleimenov ),

1596-595: Is the Verkhoyansk-Kolyma orogenic system. The Siberian craton formed in the Precambrian and is largely covered by sedimentary and volcanic rocks of more recent age. Precambrian rocks are exposed in two distinct uplifts, the Anabar massif in the northeast and the Aldanian shield in the southeast. Other basement outcrops include Olenyok, Sharyzhalgay and the raised Southern Yenisei horst . Basins include

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1672-1005: The Alps , the Arctic, the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, a definition that has been influential in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union. Nowadays, partly inspired by this usage, the term Eurasia is sometimes used to refer to the post-Soviet space – in particular Russia, the Central Asian republics, and the Transcaucasus republics – and sometimes also adjacent regions such as Turkey and Mongolia . The word "Eurasia"

1748-656: The Arctic Ocean to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the east, and the Indo-Mediterranean to the south. The division between Europe and Asia as two continents is a historical social construct , as neither fits the usual definition; thus, in some parts of the world, Eurasia is recognized as the largest of the six, five, or four continents on Earth. Eurasia covers around 55 million square kilometres (21 million square miles), or around 36.2% of

1824-756: The Baltic Shield , the Timanides , the Urals, the Altai Mountains , the Ural-Mongolian epipaleozoic orogen and the northwestern part of the Pacific orogeny. The country's highest mountains, the Caucasus , are confined to younger orogens. The European part of Russia lies on the East European platform, a region up to 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) wide covered by more than 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) of metamorphosed sediments dating back to

1900-773: The Eurasian Plate includes Europe and most of Asia but not the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian Peninsula or the area of the Russian Far East east of the Chersky Range . From the point of view of history and culture, Eurasia can be loosely subdivided into Western Eurasia and Eastern Eurasia . In geology, Eurasia is often considered as a single rigid megablock, but this is debated. Eurasia formed between 375 and 325 million years ago with

1976-716: The Greeks classified Europe (derived from the mythological Phoenician princess Europa ) and Asia which to the Greeks originally included Africa (derived from Asia , a woman in Greek mythology ) as separate "lands". Where to draw the dividing line between the two regions is still a matter of discussion . Especially whether the Kuma-Manych Depression or the Caucasus Mountains form the southeast boundary

2052-543: The Italian or Iberian Peninsula. Due to its vast size and differences in latitude , Eurasia exhibits all types of climates under the Köppen classification , including the harshest types of hot and cold temperatures, high and low precipitation, and various types of ecosystems . Eurasia is considered a supercontinent , part of the supercontinent of Afro-Eurasia or simply a continent in its own right. In plate tectonics ,

2128-584: The North China and Tarim cratons . It has been accepted that the belt was formed by accretion, but there is debate over the relative timing and nature of the various accretions. The accretion orogens form one of the largest areas of continental growth, representing 800 Ma of development. The part of the Belt in Russia is believed to have formed when the Kokchetav and Altai-Mongolian terranes collided with

2204-770: The Northern and Eastern Hemispheres , Eurasia spans from Iceland and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Russian Far East , and from the Russian Far North to Maritime Southeast Asia in the south, but other specific geographical limits of Eurasia states that the southern limit is in the Weber's line . Eurasia is bordered by Africa to the southwest, the Atlantic Ocean to the west,

2280-839: The Permian and the Triassic . The Chukchi massif is an outcrop of Precambrian basement that stretches to the Seward Peninsula in Alaska. The Novosibirsk-Chukotka orogen is connected under the Chukchi Sea with the Brooks fold-and-thrust belt in Alaska. The Central Asian Orogenic Belt is an orogen that covers much of Central Asia , extending from the Urals to the Pacific and dividing the Siberian and Eastern European cratons from

2356-529: The Riphean stage (middle to late Proterozoic , from 1,400 to 800 million years ago). These sediments lie on the East European craton , a remnant of Precambrian continental crust composed of magmatic and metamorphic rocks. The East European craton itself was created between 2.0 and 1.7 billion years ago when the microcontinents of Fennoscandia , Sarmatia and Volgo-Uralia collided. The Timan Ridge ( Тиманский кряж – Timansky Kryazh ) lies west of

Geology of Russia - Misplaced Pages Continue

2432-549: The Soviet Union ) then dominated much of the continent until the end of the Cold War in 1991. Originally, "Eurasia" is a geographical notion: in this sense, it is simply the biggest continent; the combined landmass of Europe and Asia. However, geopolitically, the word has several meanings, reflecting specific geopolitical interests. "Eurasia" is one of the most important geopolitical concepts and it figures prominently in

2508-1240: The Transhimalaya . Other high ranges include the Kunlun , Hindu Raj , and Caucasus Mountains . The Alpide belt stretches 15,000 km across southern Eurasia, from Java in Maritime Southeast Asia to the Iberian Peninsula in Western Europe , including the ranges of the Himalayas, Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Alborz , Caucasus, and the Alps . Long ranges outside the Alpide Belt include the East Siberian , Altai , Scandinavian , Qinling , Western Ghats , Vindhya , Byrranga , and Annamite Ranges . The largest Eurasian islands by area are Borneo , Sumatra , Honshu , Great Britain, Sulawesi , Java, Luzon , Iceland, Mindanao , Ireland , Hokkaido , Sakhalin , and Sri Lanka . The five most-populated islands in

2584-401: The Ural Mountains . However, at least part of this definition has been subject to criticism by many modern analytical geographers like Halford Mackinder , who saw little validity in the Ural Mountains as a boundary between continents. Nineteenth-century Russian philosopher Nikolai Danilevsky defined Eurasia as an entity separate from Europe and Asia, bounded by the Himalayas, the Caucasus,

2660-441: The heterogeneous dispositif such metapolitical constructs used to control and exercise power. Across Eurasia, several single markets have emerged, including the Eurasian Economic Space , European Single Market , ASEAN Economic Community , and the Gulf Cooperation Council . There are also several international organizations and initiatives which seek to promote integration throughout Eurasia, including: In ancient times,

2736-590: The Americas (e.g.,  Council on Hemispheric Affairs , Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation ). [REDACTED] Africa [REDACTED] Antarctica [REDACTED] Asia [REDACTED] Australia [REDACTED] Europe [REDACTED] North America [REDACTED] South America [REDACTED] Afro-Eurasia [REDACTED] Americas [REDACTED] Eurasia [REDACTED] Oceania 50°N 80°E  /  50°N 80°E  / 50; 80 Dome (geology) A dome

2812-437: The Angara fault which has left slip. Much of the rock was formed by Neoprotozoic accretion . North of the fault, the area is made up of thrust sheets divided into three primarily Neoproterozoic terranes, the East Angara, Central Angara and the Isakov. Each one overrides another, and volcanism is generally limited to the Central and Isakov terranes. South of the fault are the Predivinsk terrane, made of island arc accretion, and

2888-444: The Angara-Kan micro-craton, which is sometimes considered separate from the fold belt. The Siberian craton (or West-Siberian craton) coincides with the Central Siberian plateau that lies between the Yenisei and Lena rivers. In the west it borders the West Siberian basin. The Yenisei-Katanga trough lies in the north. In the south lies the Central Asian fold belt, the Baikal rift and the Mongol-Okhotsk fold belt. The eastern border

2964-413: The Chersky collisional belt. It consists of late Permian to Jurassic oceanic turbidites and volcanic deposits that are folded and were intruded by molten granite in the Cretaceous. The Kolyma-Omolon microcontinent formed when the Prikolyma and Omolon terranes collided with the Alazeya island arc (or Alazeya-Oloy volcanic arc ). When the Kolyma-Omolon microcontinent collided with the Siberian craton

3040-412: The Devonian-Carboniferous boundary. This collision, which is related to the Caledonian orogeny , is called the Severnaya Zemlya episode. Eurasia Eurasia ( / j ʊəˈr eɪ ʒ ə / yoor- AY -zhə , also UK : /- ʃ ə / -⁠shə ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia . According to some geographers, physiographically , Eurasia

3116-416: The Earth's total land area. The landmass contains well over 5 billion people, equating to approximately 70% of the human population . Humans first settled in Eurasia from Africa 125,000 years ago. Eurasia contains many peninsulas, including the Arabian Peninsula , Korean Peninsula , Indian subcontinent , Anatolia Peninsula , Kamchatka Peninsula , and Europe, which itself contains peninsulas such as

Geology of Russia - Misplaced Pages Continue

3192-405: The East European Craton. This crystalline basement is made up of amphibolite to granulite facies , mostly forming domes . Granitoids deformed into gneisses are contained. The sedimentary rocks covering these domes are of Neoproterozoic to Phanerozoic age. The Arabian Plate has been converging towards the East European craton at 29 mm/yr; however, subduction has not occurred because of

3268-426: The Eurasian Media Forum, the Eurasian Cultural Foundation ( Евразийский фонд культуры ), the Eurasian Development Bank ( Евразийский банк развития ), and the Eurasian Bank. In 2007 Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev , proposed building a " Eurasia Canal " to connect the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea via Russia's Kuma-Manych Depression to provide Kazakhstan and other Caspian-basin countries with

3344-518: The North Sakhalin basin, and there are coal-bearing deposits in mountains associated with the middle Miocene. Severnaya Zemlya and the northern part of the Taimyr Peninsula formed an independent microcontinent during the Paleozoic, the Kara Terrane or North Kara Terrane. It consists of a Neoproterozoic basement , consisting of metamorphosed sedimentary rocks intruded by granites, which is covered by Upper Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. The North Kara Terrane collided with Siberia around

3420-422: The Northern Ural mountains. It strikes northwest–southeast, extending from the settlement of Troitsko-Pechorsk to the Kanin Peninsula . This ridge can be correlated with outcrops on the Varanger Peninsula which together form the Timan-Varanger belt. The Timan-Varanger belt consists of Neoproterozoic (late Precambrian) sediments that were metamorphosed and deformed during the Timanian (or Baikalian) orogeny,

3496-439: The Pacific shoreline and terminates between the peninsula and St. Lawrence Island . The Okhotsk-Chukotka Volcanic Belt was formed during the Cretaceous by the subduction of the Kula or Isanagai oceanic plate under the Verkhoyansk-Chukotka orogen. The activity ended with the subduction moving farther east. Mineral resources found in the Okhotsk-Chukotka belt include gold , silver , tin and mercury . The Kuril arc

3572-400: The Sakhalin deformation zones. The belt formed by this zone extends to lake Baikal . The area is under compressive stresses. The Dzhugdzhur range has a basement formed out of a block which is from the early Proterozoic. It is sometimes considered part of the Aldan Shield. It contains a late Archean granulite basement. This basement can be broken into two sequences, the lower is primarily

3648-409: The Siberia Craton. The Altai Structures reach into Russia, representing the extent of a mobile belt primarily lying south of the border. This is known as the Altai-Sayan orogen and is part of the belt present in Russia, along with the Transbaikalia and Primorje orogens. The Baikal – Stanovoy region is commonly held to be caused by various factors to account for the differing structures throughout

3724-399: The Tunguska basin, the Vilui basin (Viluiskaya-Tunguska syncline), the Low-Angara (Angara-Lena trough) basin, and the Kan-Taseeva basin. The volcanically produced Siberian Traps , the largest flood basalts of the Phanerozoic (the last 539 million years), mantle about 40 percent of the Siberian craton. The Siberian craton is known for its large mineral resources. The town of Norilsk is

3800-448: The Upper Cretaceous, which is superimposed on a granite- gneiss and schist -basic foundation, and which, after folding, was overlain by Paleogene – Neogene rocks. On the Central and Eastern Kamchatka- Olyutor systems of the Upper Cretaceous is built up a complex of paleogene volcanic-sedimentary strata. During the Late Pliocene – Early Pleistocene in the central zone there developed large basaltic shield volcanoes . The Eastern Zone

3876-405: The Verkhoyansk fold-and-thrust belt , the Chersky collisional zone, and the Kolyma-Omolon microcontinent. The Verkhoyansk fold-and-thrust belt consists of a sedimentary succession, most of which was deposited between the Carboniferous and Middle Jurassic. The Lena River runs along the most frontal, or most western thrust of the Verkhoyansk fold and thrust belt. In the east of the Verkhoyansk lies

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3952-412: The Western Hemisphere and Oceania geopolitically peripheral to the world's central continent. About 75 per cent of the world's people live in 'Eurasia', and most of the world's physical wealth is there as well, both in its enterprises and underneath its soil. 'Eurasia' accounts for about three-fourths of the world's known energy resources." The Russian " Eurasianism " corresponded initially more or less to

4028-427: The area. The driving forces of the rift are unknown; however, possibilities include the subduction of the Pacific Plate and the collision of the Indian subcontinent with Eurasia. Locally, there may be a mantle up-welling driving the extension. The area was originally characterized by Precambrian and Paleozoic northeast-southwest fold and thrust belts. Volcanism began in the late Cretaceous in limited areas, but

4104-407: The commentaries on the ideas of Halford Mackinder . As Zbigniew Brzezinski observed on Eurasia: "... how America 'manages' Eurasia is critical. A power that dominates 'Eurasia' would control two of the world's three most advanced and economically productive regions. A mere glance at the map also suggests that control over 'Eurasia' would almost automatically entail Africa's subordination, rendering

4180-426: The formation of domes, the foremost of which are refolding, diapirism, igneous intrusion, and post-impact uplift. Structural domes can be formed by horizontal stresses in a process known as refolding, which involves the superposition, or overprinting, of two- or more fold fabrics. Upright folds formed by a horizontal primary stress in one direction can be altered by another horizontal stress oriented at 90 degrees to

4256-431: The grabens basalt volcanics erupted from either end of the rift system during the uplift. The grabens mostly spread without releasing magma, except the Tunka depression. The Dzhugdzhur Range and Stanovoy Range are two eastern mountain ranges, where the Stonovoy is west of the Dzhugdzhur. Together the ranges make up a folded block structure, which first formed during the Archean and Proterozoic . The Stanovoy range

4332-454: The land area of Imperial Russia in 1914, including parts of Eastern Europe . One of Russia's main geopolitical interests lies in ever closer integration with those countries that it considers part of "Eurasia." The term Eurasia gained geopolitical reputation as one of the three superstates in 1984 , George Orwell 's novel where constant surveillance and propaganda are strategic elements (introduced as reflexive antagonists ) of

4408-416: The late Devonian and early Carboniferous , when volcanic island arcs developed and accreted to the continental margin. During the subsequent collision stage, extensive folding , faulting , and metamorphism occurred. Deformation during the collision stage propagated from the south northwards, reaching the Pay-Khoy mountains during the Jurassic . The strong influence of strike-slip movements during

4484-427: The least-densely populated. Eurasia has been the host of many ancient civilizations, including those based in Mesopotamia , the Indus Valley and China. In the Axial Age (mid- first millennium BCE ), a continuous belt of civilizations stretched through the Eurasian subtropical zone from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This belt became the mainstream of world history for two millennia. New connections emerged between

4560-457: The long tract of compressed and highly deformed rock that constitutes the Ural orogen . In Asiatic Russia , the area between the Ural Mountains and the Yenisei River is the young West Siberian Plain . East of the Yenisei River is the ancient Central Siberian Plateau , extending to the Lena River . East of the Lena River there is the Verhoyansk-Chukotka collision zone, stretching to the Chukchi Peninsula . The orogens within Russia belong to

4636-437: The magma flows laterally from the pipe of magma feeding it, a mushroom-shaped mass of magma is formed. This causes the overlying layers of sedimentary rock to bulge upward like a giant blister and deform into a dome. A complex crater , caused by collision of a hypervelocity body with another larger than itself, is typified by the presence of a dome at the centre of the site of impact. These domes are typically large-scale (on

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4712-402: The magnitude of tens of metres) and thought to be the result of post-impact weakening of the overlying strata and basement. Weakening is integral for the vertical uplift required to create a dome to take place, as it allows vertical displacement to happen unconstrained by the original rigidity properties of the undeformed rock. This displacement is the result of the parcel of rock at the centre of

4788-463: The merging of Siberia , Kazakhstania , and Baltica , which was joined to Laurentia (now North America), to form Euramerica . This is a list of the longest rivers in Eurasia. Included are all rivers over 3,000 km (1,900 mi). All of the 100 highest mountains on Earth are in Eurasia, in the Himalaya , Karakoram , Hindu Kush , Pamir , Hengduan , and Tian Shan mountain ranges, and all peaks above 7,000 metres are in these ranges and

4864-454: The original stress. This results in overprinting of the twofold fabrics, similar to wave interference patterns, that results in a system of basins and domes. Where the synclines of both fabrics are superimposed, a basin is formed; however, where the anticlines of both fabrics are superimposed, a dome is formed. Diapirism involves the vertical displacement of a parcel of material through overlying strata in order to reach equilibrium within

4940-409: The orogeny caused the unusual straightness of the mountain chain. The West Siberian basin lies between the Ural mountains and the Siberian craton to its east. It corresponds to the geographic region of the West Siberian plain . Deposition in rift valleys resulting from prolonged subsidence of the Triassic Koltogor-Urengoy graben in an intra-cratonic sag basin beginning in the Jurassic has resulted in

5016-540: The parcel rises, a dome can form; in cases where the overlying strata are particularly devoid of resistance to applied stress, the diapir may penetrate through the strata altogether and erupt on the surface. Potential materials comprised by these less-dense strata include salt (which is highly incompressible, thus creating the structural instability that leads to diapirism when buried under deposited strata and subject to overlying stress) and partially melted migmatite (a metamorphic-texture rock frequently found in domes due to

5092-426: The presence of three blocks separating the plate and craton. The convergence has forced up the Caucasus Mountains. The core of the mountains is mostly composed of metasedimentary Paleozoic rocks. Deformation outside the core has mostly taken place on the southern slopes of the mountains; however, there is some deformation on the North slopes. This deformation is differentiated on the north slopes from East to West. In

5168-460: The region. The Baikal-Stanovoy seismic belt underlies the region and is a long thin activity region. Compressive stresses dominate the eastern Stanovoy Ranges, whereas the Baikal rift zone is an extension zone . The Baikal rift zone is an extension zone separating the Siberian platform from the Sayan Baikal range. This zone is revealed by a series of basins more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) long. Some strike-slip action also takes place in

5244-428: The sedimentary stack of the Verhoyansk was folded and uplifted. Deformation took place between the Middle Jurassic and Upper Cretaceous. The Novosibirsk-Chukotka orogen lies in the northeasternmost part of Russia on the Chukchi Peninsula and also is exposed on the island of New Siberia , Anzhu Islands . The orogen is composed of metamorphic basement rocks and cover made up of shallow water sediments, deposited between

5320-412: The subregions of Eurasia from the Age of Discovery onwards, with the Iberians discovering new maritime routes in the 1490s, and the 1869 completion of the Suez Canal having paved the way for direct passage through the Indo-Mediterranean and the wave of Western European "New Imperialism" that dominated Africa and Asia until the mid-20th century. The communist presence in Eurasia (primarily driven by

5396-425: The typical involvement of heat and/or pressure with their formation). The intrusion of magma into layered sedimentary rocks and the resulting formation of laccoliths or igneous stocks can also create domes. In the case of laccoliths, this happens when the vertical movement magma stops at the base of particular sedimentary layer or layers and starts to spread laterally away from the pipe of ascending magma. As

5472-644: The west, some thrusting to the North of the Crest has taken place into the Kuban Basin . When the thrusting die out the north slopes of the central Greater Caucasus form a basement uplift, forming a monocline dipping North. Dagestan to the Eastern end of the range is where the most thrusting to the North occurs and has formed a folded zone of sediments, overlying some of the Terek Basin . The Caspian Basin

5548-642: The world are Java, Honshu, Great Britain, Luzon, and Sumatra. Other Eurasian islands with large populations include Mindanao, Taiwan , Salsette , Borneo, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Kyushu , and Hainan . The most densely-populated islands in Eurasia are Caubian Gamay Island , Ap Lei Chau , and Navotas Island . In the Arctic Ocean, Severny Island , Nordaustlandet , October Revolution Island , and Bolshevik Island are Eurasia's largest uninhabited islands, and Kotelny Island , Alexandra Land , and Spitsbergen are

5624-604: The world's largest supplier of nickel . In 2011 one-fifth of the world's production of this metal came from Russia. The Verhoyansk-Chukotka collision zone is commonly divided into the Verhoyansk-Kolyma and the Novosibirsk-Chukotka (or Novosibirsk-Chukchi) orogens. It stretches from the Lena river in the west to the Chukchi Peninsula in the east. The Verkhoyansk-Kolyma orogen is composed of three parts:

5700-569: The world. It has an area of 2,200,000 square kilometres (850,000 sq mi) and the USGS estimates oil and gas reserves of 360 billion barrels of oil equivalent in the basin. Dividing the Siberian craton from the West Siberian basin is the Yenisey fold belt, which extends about 700 kilometres (430 mi), with NW-SE strike. This belt is divided into northern and southern regions by

5776-513: Was accompanied by dextral strike-slip faulting, and this formed imbricated (overlapping) fans of thrusts and folds with southeast vergence , creating a broken formation and serpentinite mélange . Some of the rocks were metamorphosed to blueschist . These structures are now overlapped by Upper Albian sedimentary rocks with an angular unconformity . A late Cretaceous to Cenozoic deformational event characterized by significant sinistral strike-slip displacement at higher crustal levels resulted in

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