Siberian Craton
The Siberian craton (or West-Siberian craton) coincides with the Central Siberian plateau that lies between the Yenisei and Lena rivers. In the west it borders the West Siberian basin. The Yenisei-Katanga trough lies in the north. In the south lies the Central Asian fold belt, the Baikal rift and the Mongol-Okhotsk fold belt. The eastern border is the Verkhoyansk-Kolyma orogenic system.
The Siberian craton formed in the Precambrian and is largely covered by sedimentary and volcanic rocks of more recent age. Precambrian rocks are exposed in two distinct uplifts, the Anabar massif in the northeast and the Aldanian shield in the southeast. Other basement outcrops include Olenyok, Sharyzhalgay and the raised Southern Yenisei horst.
Basins include the Tunguska basin, the Vilui basin (Viluiskaya-Tunguska syncline), the Low-Angara (Angara-Lena trough) basin, and the Kan-Taseeva basin.
The volcanically produced Siberian Traps, the largest flood basalts of the Phanerozoic (the last 542 million years), mantle about 40 percent of the Siberian craton.
The Siberian craton is known for its large mineral resources. The town of Norilsk is the world’s largest supplier of nickel. In 2011 one-fifth of the world's production of this metal came from Russia.
Read more about this topic: Geology Of Russia