PRIPYAT TROUGH: TECTONICS, GEODYNAMICS, AND EVOLUTION

Abstract

The Pripyat Trough is situated in the East-European Platform and is a part of the more extensive system of the Sarmatian-Turanian lineament. It is one of the most thoroughly drilled and seismically investigated oil-bearing basins of the paleorift type that are known in the ancient platforms. Its geological structure reflects the typical features of ancient rift basins and can be interpreted as the tectonic type of an oil-bearing paleorift. The tectonic style of the paleorift can be reconstructed from the structure of some markers, such as the surfaces of the basement, of the subsalt deposits, of the intersalt rocks, of the upper salt-bearing rock sequence, and of some other rocks residing in the upper parts of the sequence. The Pripyat Trough is characterized by the block tectonics of its subsalt deposits, by the block-fold tectonics of its intersalt deposits, and by the essentially fold tectonics of its upper salt-bearing and overlying deposits. The specific styles of the tectonic deformation of the subsalt, intrasalt, and suprasalt deposits suggest three structural zones, namely, the Northern, Central, and Southern zones. Proceeding from the results of deep seismic sounding, the Pripyat rift is interpreted as a zone of listric breaking which had enveloped not only the Pripyat Graben but also the adjacent areas of the Ukrainian Shield and Belorussian Anteclise, forming its shoulders.