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Table of Contents


Vol. 9 - 2010

Vol. 8 - 2009

Vol. 7 - 2008
SP 1 - 2008

Vol. 6 - 2007
Vol. 5 - 2006
Vol. 4 - 2005
Vol. 3 - 2004
Vol. 2 - 2003
Vol. 1 - 2001-2002

Notes for Authors
(PDF - 80 kb)



GeoActa Special Publication 1 2008


Acquisto online

GeoActa
an international Journal of Earth Sciences


Dmitry A. Ruban
Department of Geology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa. Contact address: P.O. Box 7333, Rostov-na-Donu, 344056, Russian Federation. E-mail: ruban-d@mail.ru, ruban-d@rambler.ru

Major Paleozoic-Mesozoic unconformities in the Greater Caucasus and their tectonic re-interpretation: a synthesis


Volume 6, 2007, pages 91-102

PDF (228 KB)
Abstract

Four major unconformities are present within the Paleozoic-Mesozoic strata of the Greater Caucasus, a region that was derived from the Afro-Arabian margin of Gondwana during the Ludlow, then docked at the Laurussian margin near the European Alpine terranes, and moved eastwards during the Late Triassic-earliest Jurassic to occupy its present position. The Ordovician unconformity, which includes part of the Middle Ordovician, formed due to uncertain tectonic activity on the Gondwanan margin. The mid-Permian unconformity, which encompasses the Guadalupian to early Lopingian, might have resulted from the Saalian Orogeny accompanied with strike-slip activity. The Triassic/Jurassic unconformity, which encompasses the mid-Rhaetian to early Sinemurian, developed after the long-distance movement of the Greater Caucasus Terrane along a shear zone or, alternatively, after the global sea-level fall. These three mentioned major unconformities are correlated with similar unconformities in some European, north-central African, and Arabian basins. The mid-Jurassic unconformity, which encompasses the mid-Bathonian to the Early Callovian, might have been caused by arc-arc collision in the Caucasian sector of the northern Neotethys or by the major sinistral transtension from Europe to the Himalayas.

Keywords: Unconformity, Palaeotectonics, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Greater Caucasus.