LONG-LIVED STRUCTURAL ENSEMBLES OF THE EAST EUROPEAN PLATFORM. ARTICLE 1. THE BASEMENT TECTONICS

Abstract

General features of the basement tectonics of the East European platform (EEP) have been considered. The important role of the long-lived Paleoproterozoic tectonic zones has been noted. They were formed due to the cyclic processes of rifting and compression combined with the strike-sleep shearing. They include different structures often superimposed in space: systems of rifts and collisional orogenic belts, transtensional and transpressional zones, ensembles associated with tectonic-plate processes. A special role belongs to the non-linear structures: different scaled rotational structures, concentric and spiral shaped shears, the arcuate orocline belts and horizontal protrusions. Long-lived Proterozoic zones form a giant vortex structure twirled in a clockwise direction, the pole of which is located in the center of the Upper-Volga geodynamic node. The rotational processes of this giant structure can explain many tectonic features of the EEP development.

Keywords

• intraplate tectonics
• geodynamics
• shear zone
• rifting
• collision
• kinematics
• vortex structure
• east european platform