Tectonic School of the Geological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences

The tectonic school of the Geological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences (GIN RAS), was created in the second half of the 1930s. Its founders were Academicians A.D. Arkhangel’sky and N.S. Shatsky. Three periods are distinguished in the history of the tectonic school. The first period lasted until the 1960s and was based on the geosyncline theory. The Tectonic Map of the USSR and Adjacent Territories (1956) was the acme of the scientific creative activity of this period. The second period corresponded to the 1960s and was characterized by transition to the mobilistic theory. The third period is characterized by the mobilistic theory itself. The concept of tectonic delamination of the lithosphere, which is widely claimed by geological mapping, is a great achievement of this period, which continues to the present day. The concept of involvement of the entire Earth’s mantle down to its core in the tectonosphere is developing currently. The final conclusion is that the work of the tectonic school of the GIN RAS continues in the areas of both regional and general tectonics.