Abstract:
By the Late Jurassic, the northern part of the East Asian continental margin was diversified. Principal structural constituents were the Siberian (or North Asian) craton bounded on the east by a miogeosynclinal fold belt, a system of smaller ancient blocks, and a collage of terranes that had been attached to the craton from the east and southeast at different times. Such a diverse structural environment caused variability of Cretaceous landscapes and related sedimentary systems. Global processes of lithospheric plate interaction and related regional tectonic processes played a leading role in Cretaceous environmental changes in the continental margin of East Russia.During the Early Cretaceous, the oblique plate convergence produced a transform continental margin over a long period of time. During the Middle Albian, a collage of terranes were attached to the continental margin of East Russia. Then during the Late Albian period, the angle of convergence increased, subduction resumed, and a giant East Asian volcanic belt formed along the continental margin. This belt was morphologically represented by a chain of mountain ridges (up to 3000 m), thus creating a sublongitudinal tectonic and climatic zonation. The active continental margin with a typical environmental arrangement of marginal seas–island arcs–the open sea, persisted until the end of the Cretaceous. The Late Maastrichtian tectonics was mostly characterized by overall uplift of the region.