Tectonics, stress state, and geodynamics of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Rift basins in the Baikal region

The results of geological, structural, tectonic, and geoelectric studies of the dry basins in the Baikal Rift Zone and western Transbaikalia, combined under the term Baikal region, are integrated. Deformations of the Cenozoic sediments related to pulsing and creeping tectonic processes are classified. The efficiency of mapping of the fault-block structure of the territories overlapped by loose and poorly cemented sediments is shown. The faults mapped at the ground surface within the basins are correlated with the deep structure of the sedimentary fill and the surface of the crystalline basement, where they are expressed in warping and zones of low electric resistance. It is established that the kinematics of the faults actively developing in the Late Cenozoic testifies to the relatively stable regional stress field during the Late Pliocene and Quaternary over the entire Baikal region, where the NW-SE-trending extension was predominant. At the local level, the stress field of the uppermost Earth’s crust is mosaic and controlled by variable orientation of the principal stress axes with the prevalence of extension. The integrated tectonophysical model of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic rift basin is primarily characterized by the occurrence of mountain thresholds, asymmetric morphostructure, and block-fault structure of the sedimentary beds and upper part of the crystalline basement. The geological evolution of the Baikal region from the Jurassic to Recent is determined by alternation of long (20–115 Ma) epochs of extension and relatively short (5.3–3.0 Ma) stages of compression. The basins of the Baikal Rift System and western Transbaikalia are derivatives of the same geodynamic processes.