THE VERKHOYANSK-CHUKVHI AREA OF THE RECENT OROGENY: ZONING AND THE MAIN FORMATION STAGES
V.N. Smirnov
Northeast Interdisciplinary Science Research Institute, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Portovaya 16, Magadan, 685000, Russia
Keywords: Late Mesozoic, Cenozoic, land mass, orogeny, orogenic systems, orogenic stages, neotectonic stage, Verkhoyansk-Chukchi orogenic area
Pages: 467-474
Abstract
The Verkhoyansk-Chukchi orogenic area formed on the vast land mass that had appeared as a result of collision in the Early Cretaceous and that had consolidated the Mesozoic protoorogenic structures in northeastern Asia. This heterogeneous land mass was the basis on which spatially and structurally coupled orogens developed in the late Mesozoic and Cenozoic. The protoorogenic stages in the evolution of the Verkhoyansk-Chukchi area were followed by several large orogenic stages: Albian-Cenomanian, Eocene, and Pliocene-Quaternary. The Okhotsk-Chuckchi volcanic-block and the Yana-Kolyma fold-block orogenic systems formed at stage 1. The Taui-Anadyr' continental-margin rift system formed at stage 2. This shaped the structure of the Verkhoyansk-Chukchi area. The internal structure of the orogenic systems formed through the Pliocene-Quaternary (neotectonic) stage, which was dominated by uplifting throughout the Verkhoyansk-Chukchi area. The neotectonic structure was mostly inherited from the previous orogenic stages.
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