Stages of orogenic evolution of the Western Stanovoy Ridge and adjacent areas

Abstract

Orogenic epoch of the evolution of the area under consideration embraces time from Late Cretaceous to Holocene and includes four main stages: Early Cretaceous- Oligocene; Oligocene-Middle Miocene, Middle Miocene-Early Pliocene, Middle Pliocene-Early Pleistocene. During each stage at first highly dissected mountain topography and thick sediments in depressions are formed, then a piedmont planation surface and crusts of weathering. Last three stages correspond to neotectonic stage, as the beginning of the Oligocene stage is one of the main milestones in the region's evolution and is most close to generally accepted lower boundary of the neotectonic stage. The stages become short ter in the course of time (from ancient to young ones) and the rate of tectonic uplift within mountain regions increases.