Belts of rejuvenated mountains on continents

Abstract

Rejuvenated mountains on continents form three types of mountain belts: Mongolian-Siberian type, where the tectonic relief is in close association with deep-seated structure, Uralian-Appalachian type (within zones of continental platforms approach), type of continental margins (or East-Asian), elements of which come into being as a response to active subsidence within marginal seas of the Pacific. On continents no analogues-exists of the Central Asian belt of rejuvenated mountains or of the East African rift system: the former is formed within an intra-continental collision zone and the latter is the only neotectonic rejuvenated orogen on southern continents. Causes and conditions of the formation of rejuvenated mountain belts are various. A great importance is attached to protrusions of anomalous mantle (asthenoliths) and to zones where the upper surface of the asthenosphere is tilted and linear warping or narrow sutural block uplifts take place. Tectonic pulsations seems to be essential for the development of linear warping zones.