Sedimentary basin analysis: Black Sea–Caspian Region

Abstract

The accomplished analysis has found out that the study basins were the parts of the Black Sea-Caspian basin system in the Mesozoic era, partly participated in dislocation tectonics later on, and are the part of the Alpine folding zone from the viewpoint of the modern tectonic zoning. Furthermore, the analysis has set the main stages of the sedimentation cross-section formation with the specified sedimentary depocenters at each stage, which allows reconstructing the sedimentation evolution. The studies of the delineated area reveal four zones of stable downwarping within the period of the plate mantle formation: the Karkinit, Indol-Kuban, Eastern Kuban and Terek-Caspian basins. Each basin features unique evolution in terms of different tectonics modes and sedimentation velocities. These factors govern the geological structures of the basins-different thickness relationships of sedimentary units.