Delvaux, D. 1997. ‘Geodynamics of Baikal Rifting: New Developments and Perspectives’. Jacob, A.W.B., Delvaux, D., and Khan, M.A (ed), Communications of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Series D, Geophysical Bulletin 48, special issue : Lithospheric Structure, Evolution and Sedimentation in Continental Rifts  : 86-97. Dublin : Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.  (PR).

Article in a scientific Journal / Article in a Journal

This paper reviews the recent developments in the understanding of the mechanism of rifting in the Baikal Rift Zone. It presents some of the main features of the Baikal rift studied in recent years, concerning the Paleozoic pre-rift history, the Mesozoic detachment-style extension and the Cenozoic rifting along the south-eastern margin of the Siberian Craton, in Central Asia. The Baikal rift zone was studied by a wide variety of approaches, including tectonics, sedimentation, volcanism, stress field and fault kinematics evolution in time and space from the Early Paleozoic to the Present-day, apatite fission track thermochronology, geophysical investigations, seismotectonics, geodesy and kinematic and finite element modelling. A new view of the rifting geodynamics is presented, as a result of a long-lived process occurring along a crustal-scale weakness zone at the margin of the Siberian Craton, and as a function of the intraplate context. Differences between Mesozoic detachment-style extension and Cenozoic rifting are highlighted. The main directions for future research are identified, in relation to the gaps in the present knowledge.

• IGCP400 - Geodynamics of Continental Rifting
• Tectonique active et risques naturels des rifts continentaux