June 15, 2026

Geology and Mineral Resources – Russia, Part 1

Introduction

Figure 1 - The Russian Federation
Credit: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Licence

Russia is a big topic, so I will look at it in more than one post. Here’s Part 1, on the geology of the country.

The Russian Federation is a country of 141,505,279 people in Eastern Europe and North Asia. The world’s largest country, Russia has an area of 17,098,246 square kilometres, spans 11 time zones, and has land borders with the 14 countries. Russia also borders on the Baltic Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean.

Russia has a modern advanced economywith a per capita GDP (PPP) of $52,479 and a very high Human Development Index of 0.832.The Russian economyis the world’s the fourth-largest economy by GDP (PPP) and includes various industries, such as manufacturing, natural resource extraction, and agriculture. These is also a large government sector in their mixed economywhich has become more market oriented since the end of the central planned economy under the former Soviet Union. In 2024, the top exports of Russia were petroleum (both crude and refined), natural gas, coal, and gold. The top destinations for exports were China, India, Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Brazil. In the latest year, Russia was the world’s largest exporter of wheat, iron, nitrogen fertilizers, frozen fish, and nuclear reactors. In 2024, the top imports of Russia were motor vehicles, medications, telephones, computers, and motor vehicle parts. The top countries of origin for imports were China, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Germany, and India. In the latest year, Russia was the world’s largest importer of aluminum oxide, time recording instruments, copper, light rubberized knitted fabric, and artificial fur.

For more details on the country, check out the Wikipedia and Grokipedia articles on the country.

Geology

Figure 2 – Simplified Tectonic Map of Russia
Credit: Figure 1 in Neymark, Larin, & Moscati, 2021, CC BY 4.0

As you might guess from its immense size, the geology of Russia is itself a huge subject. For this posting, I’ll discuss the main geological provinces and provide links to discussions on the geology of those features. For people interested in current research into Russian geology and geophysics research, check out the journal Russian Geology and Geophysics.

East European Platform

Figure 3 – East European Platform
Credit: Figure 1.2 in The East European Platform, Russian Nature

West of the Ural Mountains, the area generally called European Russia is underlain by the metamorphic basement rocks of the East European Platform. These rocks have a long and geologically tortured history ranging in age from the Archean to the Proterozoic eons. Originally sedimentary, volcanogenic-sedimentary and volcanogenic rocks, these rocks were deformed in a series of orogenies. The basement rock was subsequently covered by sediments and further deformed in a series of tectonic events that began in the Neoproterozoic and continue to the present.

Caucasus Mountains

Figure 4 - Main Structures of the Caucasus MountainsCredit: Figure 1.10 in The Mediterranean Fold Belt, Russian Nature

The Caucasus Mountains are a fold belt that lies south of the East European Platform. The geology of the Caucasus can consists of Phanerozoic aged sediments, mostly from the Tethys Ocean, piled up into the mountains during the Alpine Orogeny that began during the Jurassic Period and continues to the present.

Caspian Basin

Figure 5 – Caspian Basin
Credit: Figure 1 in USGS Fact Sheet 2024–3047, public domain

South of the East European Platform and east of the Caucasus Mountains is the Caspian Basin. A complex system of basins and carbonate platforms, you can divide the Caspian into three main basins:

• The North Basin developed from rifting during the Devonian and consists of sedimentary rocks, escpecially carbonate platform deposits that contain significant petroleum deposits.

• A Middle Caspian Basin that was formed from sedimentary rocks deposited beginning in the Late Permian to Triassic and continuing through to the present Quaternary time.

• The South Basinconsists of sediments laid down over subsidence that began during the Jurassic and continued into the Cenozoic. The South Caspian Basin also contains significant petroleum deposits.

Ural Orogen

The Uralian Orogenic Belt is one of the largest fold belts on the Earth and stretches for almost 6,000 km from Novaya Zemlya, in the north, to the Aral Sea, in the south. The belt is located between the East European, Siberian, Tarim, and Chinese platforms.

Figure 6 - Main Structures of the Urals
Credit: Figure 1.7 in The Urals-Okhotsk Fold Belt, Russian Nature

Overall, the Urals represent the tectonic collision of the East European Platform with the Kazakhstania microcontinent. The development of the Ural Orogenic Belt includes tectonic events and sedimentary deposition during Riphean (Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic), Baikalian (Neoproterozoic), Salairian (Late Cambrian), Caledonian (Devonian), and Hercynian (Late Triassic to Early Cretaceous) times.

Within the Ural Orogen, there are two major complexes of deposits. The oldest are the Pre-uralides, dating from the lower Proterozoic to the Riphean and consisting of metamorphic rocks - gneisses and schists. The second group of deposits are the Uralides; these date from the Ordovician to the end of the Permian and consist of sedimentary terrigenous and carbonate deposits on the west slope of the Urals and island arc volcanic rocks and ophiolites, on the eastern slope.

West Siberian Basin

Figure 7 – West Siberian Basin
Credit: USGS Bulletin 2201-G, public domain

Corresponding to the geographical area called the West Siberian Plain, the West Siberian Basin lies between the Ural Mountains, the the west, and the Siberian Craton, to the east. The underlying tectonic structure is an intra-cratonic sag basin, the Triassic aged Koltogor-Urengoy Rift System. The formation of the rift system is linked to the creation of the Siberian Traps, a giant formation of volcanic rocks which are in turn linked to the End-Permian Mass Extinction. The rift system includes two main structures: the Urengoy and the Khudosey rifts, the bottom of which are Triassic aged volcanic rocks. Following their development in the Triassic, these rifts began filling up with sediments which range in age from the Jurassic to the Cenozoic.

Another important aspect of the West Siberian Basin is that it is the one of the largest petroleum provinces in the world containing proven reserves of 146 billion bbl of oil and more than 1600 TCF of gas. It contains 107 giant fields, 1 mega giant, 10 super giants, and 9 new giants discovered since 2019.

Yenisey Fold Belt

Figure 8 - Yenisey Fold Belt
Credit: Figure 1 in Likhanov, 2022

On the west edge of the Siberian Craton is a Neoproterozoic tectonic structure, the Yenisey Fold Belt, which extends for about 700 km along a NW to SE strike. Sometimes considered a part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, the Yenisey Fold Belt is divided into northern and southern regions by the Angara Fault.

North of the Angara Fault, the geology consists of a series of three Neoproterozoic terranes: the East Angara, Central Angara and the Isakov, each of which overrides the other as thrust sheets. To the south of the Angara Fault is the Predivinsk Terrane, formed from island arc accretion, and the Angara-Kan block.

Siberian Craton

Figure 9 – Siberian Craton
Credit: Figure 1 in Skuzovatov et al, 2022, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

The Siberian Craton, also called the Siberian Platform, consists of Archean and Proterozoic aged basement rocks overlain by Phanerozoic sediments and volcanic deposits. The Archean and Proterozoic are exposed in two main uplifts: the Anabar Shield in the northeast, and the Aldan Shield in the southeast.

Sedimentary basins within the Craton include the Tunguska Basin, the Vilui Basin, the Angara-Lena Trough, and the Kan-Taseeva Basin. Volcanic deposits of the Siberian Traps, are found in about 40% of the Siberian Craton.

The Siberian Craton holds one of the worlds largest nickel deposits, at Norilsk, producer of about 20% of the world’s supply of nickel. Platinum group metals are also produced at Norilsk. The Tunguska Basin was also the site of the 1908 Tunguska Event, where an extraterrestrial object, probably an asteroid, crashed into the Tunguska region.

Verhoyansk-Chukotka Collision Zone

Figure 10 – Northeast Siberia
Credit: Figure 1 in Sidorov et al, 2010

The Verhoyansk-Chukotka Collision Zone stretches from the Lena river in the west to the Chukchi Peninsula in the east. It represents the result of orogenies that assembled the terranes in the area during the late Mesozoic and Cenozoic. The zone is generally divided into two main orogens: the Verhoyansk-Kolyma Orogen, and the Novosibirsk-Chukotka Orogen.

The is Verhoyansk-Kolyma Orogenmade up of three main parts: the Verkhoyansk fold-and-thrust belt, the Chersky collisional zone, and the Kolyma-Omolon block. The Verkhoyansk belt is a sedimentary succession ranging in age from Carboniferous to Jurassic. The Chersky zone is made up of oceanic turbidites and volcanic deposits ranging in age from Late Permian to Jurassic that was intruded by granite during the Cretaceous. The Kolyma-Omolon microcontinent formed from the tectonic collision of the Prikolyma Terrane, the Omolon Terrane, and the Alazeya Island Arcduring the Middle Jurassic and Late Cretaceous. Much of the geologic research in the Verkhoyansk belt has been for metallic mineral exploration, especially gold.

The Novosibirsk-Chukotka Orogen lies in the most northeastern part of Russia on the Chukchi Peninsula and also is exposed on the island of New Siberia, Anzhu Islands. It is connected under the Chukchi Sea with the Brooks Fold-and-Thrust Belt in Alaska. Much of the orogen is made up of metamorphic basement rocks overlain by shallow water sediments deposited during Permian and Triassic. Precambrian aged basement rocks stretch from the Chukchi Peninsula to the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. The Chukchi Peninsula includes volcanic and volcano-sedimentary rocks, some of which contain gold. The offshore sedimentary basin has also been assessed for hydrocarbon potential.

Central Asian Orogenic Belt

Figure 11 - Location map of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt
Credit: Wongtszyanyuki, CC BY-SA 4.0

Lying to the south of Siberia, the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) covers much of Central Asia. The CAOB extends from the Urals to the Pacific and divides the Siberian Craton and Eastern European Platform from the Tarim Craton and North China Craton. The geological history of the CAOB is complex, recent research suggests that its present configuration is the result of a the tectonic accretion of many terranes during the Paleozoic, including the Kokchetav and Altai-Mongolian terranes in Siberia. Other CAOB terranes in Siberia include the Altai-Sayan Orogen, Transbaikalia and Primorje Orogen.

Baikal-Stanovoy Region

Figure 12 – Structural Geology Baikal RegionCredit: Figure 1 in Lunina, 2012

The Baikal-Stanovoy Region includes the Baikal Rift Zone, and the Dzhugdzhur Stanovoy Province. The Baikal Rift Zone is a tectonic extension zone where the Siberian Craton is being pulled apart by a developing tectonic rift. No simple scenario explains its origin and development, the pattern of rifting has changed over the past 30 million years (Mya). The rifting began during the Oligocene and continues to this day. Among other effects of the development of this rift zone, such as local volcanismand mud volcanoes, has been the creation of Lake Baikal, the deepest freshwater lake in the world.

The Dzhugdzhur Stanovoy Province encompasses the Dzhugdzhur and Stanovoy Mountains. It is located south of the Aldan Shield, north of the Phanerozoic Mongolia-Okhotsk belt, and east of the Baikal Rift Zone. The rocks here are Archean and Proterozoic in age and were last deformed during the Cimmerian Orogeny. The Precambrian rocks can be divided into three structural stages: the lowest is an Archaean aged granulite complex; the middle zone consists of Archaean metavolcanics and granodiorites in a formation called the Stanovoy Complex; and the uppermost is a clastic terrigenous assemblage consisting of conglomerates, sandstones, siltstones, and shales derived from continental rock.

Okhotsk-Chukotka Volcanic Belt

Figure 13 – Location map of the Okhotsk-Chukotka Volcanic Belt
Credit: Figure 1 in Stone et al, 2009

The Okhotsk-Chukotka Volcanic Belt (OCVB) stretches some 3,000 km from the town of Okhotsk and along the shore of the Sea of Okhotsk. From the Shelikhov Gulf, the OCVB runs northeast across most of the Chukchi Peninsula and then bends southeast and runs along the Pacific shoreline, ending at St. Lawrence Island. The OCVB was formed during the Cretaceous when the Kula or Isanagai plates subducted under the Verhoyansk-Kolyma Orogen.

Pacific Rim Orogenies

Off the east coast of Russian Siberia are three orogenic belts: the Kuril Islands Arc, the Western Kamchatka-Koryak Volcanogenic Belt, and the Sakhalin Island Arc.

Figure 14 – Kuril Island Arc
Credit: Figure 1 in Martynov & Martynov, 2017

The Kuril Island Arc is a 2,300 km long chain of volcanic islands stretching from the Kamchatka peninsula to Hokkaido, Japan. The islands began to form during the Paleogene as the result of subduction volcanism when the Pacific Plate subducted under the Okhotsk Plate. On the southeast side of the Kuril Arc is the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench. The Kuril Arc extends northeast and intersects the Aleutian Volcanic Arc.

Figure 15 - Tectonic map of the Kamchatka Peninsula
Credit: Figure 6 in Ko, 2010

Sometimes divided into the Western Kamchatka and Koryak orogens, the Western Kamchatka-Koryak Volcanogenic Belt is another product of subduction volcanism and tectonic collisions. In the case of Western Kamchatka-Koryak Volcanogenic Belt, the West Kamchatka portion began accreting onto the Okhotsk-Chukotka Volcanic Belt during the Paleocene. Later, the Cretaceous aged oceanic crust of the Koryak belt accreted onto the Western Kamchatka belt during the Eocene. As shown on Figure 15, the resulting geology is fairly complex.

Figure 16 - Tectonic units of the Hokkaido-Sakhalin fold system
Credit: Figure 2 in Zharov, 2005

The Sakhalin Island Arc, sometimes called the Hokkaido-Sakhalin fold system, is another product of continental collisions. The arc began forming during the Miocene as a convergent plate boundary zone between the Eurasian and the North America plates.

The Russian Arctic, Severnaya Zemlya and Kara Terrane

Figure 17 – Regional Setting (a) and General Geology of the Severnaya Zemlya and Kara Terrane
Credit: Figure 1 in Ershova et al, 2019, CC BY 4.0

Located on Severnaya Zemlya and the Taymyr Peninsula, between the Kara and Laptev seas, is the Severnaya Zemlya and Kara Terrane. An independent microcontinent that during the Paleozoic, the Severnaya Zemlya and Kara Terrane consists of a succession of Neoproterozoic and Palaeozoic age sedimentary rocks.

Summary

Figure 18 – Dendrite in Rock Specimen
Credit: SKas, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license

The geology of Russia is a huge subject, and I have only scratched the surface here. For more information, you can start with links in the sections above.

One thing that came to mind when putting this together is how challenging it must have been to acquire the information to put together the geology of the various parts of Russia. Some of these areas are very remote and were used as places of exile for political prisoners during Soviet times. That Russian geologists willingly undertook such arduous work for science is an amazing thing.

Next week, we’ll look at the paleontology of Russia and wind it up in the third week with a look at the mineral industry of Russia.

Standard Caveat

J. Robert Oppenheimer on freedom and scientific inquiry

The purpose of my weblog postings is to spark people's curiosity in geology. Don't entirely believe me until you've done your own research and checked the evidence. If I have sparked your curiosity in the subject of this posting, follow up with some of the links provided here. If you want to, go out into the field and examine some rocks on your own with the help of a good field guide. Follow the evidence and make up your own mind.

In science, the only authority is the evidence.