Geology of Russia - Caucasus Mountains

Caucasus Mountains

The Arabian plate has been converging towards the East European craton at 29 mm/yr; however, subduction has not occurred because of the presence of three blocks separating the plate and craton. The convergence has forced up the Caucasus Mountains. The core of the mountains is mostly composed of metasedimentary Paleozoic rocks. Deformation outside the core has mostly taken place on the southern slopes of the mountains; however, there is some deformation on the North slopes. This deformation is differentiated on the north slopes from East to West. In the west, some thrusting to the North of the Crest has taken place into the Kuban Basin. When the thrusting die out the north slopes of the central Greater Caucasus form a basement uplift, forming a monocline dipping North. Dagestan to the Eastern end of the range is the where most thrusting to the North occurs and has formed a folded zone of sediments, overlying some of the Terek Basin.