THE EARTH’S CRUST DEFORMATION ON THE PERIPHERY OF THE BAIKAL DESTRUCTION ZONE Available to Purchase

The Baikal destruction zone is understood as part of the Baikal mobile belt where faulting occurs, followed by a complex of destruction-accompanying process, including seismic ones. Analysis of geological and structural data on western and southern Prebaikalia shows that in the central parts of the destruction zone tearing strains actively developed under both the ancient compression and recent extension of the Earth’s crust, while the peripheral faulting completely manifested itself only under compression. To clear up details of the strain process, the inner structure of compression near Irkutsk was mapped in a special way, and a conclusion was drawn on its similarity to the peripheral structures of mobile belts of the world. In all cases, the process-governing conditions were the subhorizontal compression and vertical inhomogeneity of the substrate under strain; as a result of their interaction, stress appeared in the sedimentary unit by interlayer sliding, leading to a series of layer-by-layer detachments and an intralayer flow with the formation of fine folds, pseudoboudins, and other plastic structural forms.