Delvaux, D.,  Mazukabzov, A.M.,  Melnikov, A.I. & Alexandrov, V.K. 1993. ‘Early Paleozoic compressive stress field and imbricated thrust structures along the north-western coast of Lake Baikal (Khibelen cape)’. Musée royal de l'Afrique Centrale (ed), Mus. roy. Afr. centr. Tervuren (Belg.), Dept. Géol.-Min., Rapp. ann 1991-1992: 123-136.

Article in a scientific Journal / Article in a Journal

Detailed investigation of a sector of the Pribaikal fold-and-thrust belt along the northwestern coast of Lake Baikal allows a new insight in the structural evolution of Precambrian and early Paleozoic series, at the contact with the Siberian platform. The Khibelen area, 150 km south of the northern termination of Lake Baikal is characterized by well exposed imbricated thrust structures. These are later dissected by late high-angle reverse faults, and then by strike-slip faults. The high-angle faults, together with the low-angle thrusts are likely to control the location of major rift border faults, during Cenozoic reactivation in a tensional stress field. The Pribaikal fold-and-thrust pattern is thought to have developed during a final stage of the Caledonian Central-Asian event, during late Silurian-early Devonian. The relative succession of Paleozoic brittle deformations in the Khibelen area is: (I) low-angle thrusting, (2) high angle reverse faulting and (3) strike-slip faulting. Paleostress tensors reconstructed from the analysis of minor faults and associated slip lines show the existence of at least two major stages in the kinematic evolution of stress field during Paleozoic. The oldest paleostress field obtained refers to the development of high-angle reverse fault, and the second, to the subsequent development of conjugated strike-slip faults. The first stress field is pure-radial compressive with a NWSE principal direction of compression. It then evolved by a slight anticlockwise rotation of horizontal stress axes, together with a decrease in the relative intensity of the horizontal minimum compression, leading to strike-slip regime. This evolution of the stress field is not only valid for the area surrounding the Khibelen cape, but also for the whole length of the Pribaikal area, adjacent to the northwestern coast of Lake Baikal.

• Inheritance of Geological Structures (IGS)