Within the Anabar shield in the northern part of the Siberia, Late Precambrian mafic igneous units are widespread, which form dyke swarms of different ages of different trends. This paper presents new data on the composition, structure and U-Pb dating of the E-W trending Kengede dyke swarm. Three new U-Pb ID-TIMS baddeleyite ages (1496±7, 1494±3 and 1494±5 Ma) were obtained from three dykes, indicating that the Kengede swarm is part of the 1500 Ma Kuonamka large igneous province (LIP). The previously recognized Kuonamka Large Igneous Province (LIP) extends for 700 km from the Anabar shield to the Olenek uplift in the northern part of the Siberia and is potentially linked to coeval dykes and sills of the São Francisco craton and the Congo craton. The newly dated Kengede swarm is parallel to but offset by 50 km from the previously dated 1501±3 Ma Kuonamka swarm, and the identification of these two subparallel dyke subswarms of the Kuonamka LIP supports the earlier interpretation that mantle plume centre was located along the extrapolated trend of the dykes near the eastern or western margin of the Siberia. The paper examines features of sulfide Cu-Ni mineralization in dolerites of the Kengede and East Anabar dyke swarms and discusses potential Cu-Ni-sulfide mineralization linked to the Precambrian mafic dyke swarms of different ages in the north-east of the Siberia.

Thermochronological reconstructions of the Zagan metamorphic core complex were carried out using samples from the central part of the core, mylonite zone detachment and lower nappe with U/Pb zircon dating, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar amphibole and mica dating, and apatite fission-track dating. In the tectonothermal evolution of the metamorphic core, there was distinguished an active phase (tectonic denudation) of the dome structure formation during the Early Cretaceous (131–114 Ma), which continued in the Late Cretaceous – Paleocene (111–54 Ma) in passive phase (erosive denudation). During an active phase, there was initiated a large-amplitude gently dipping normal fault (detachment), which was accompanied by tilting (sliding of rocks along subparallel listric faults). As a result, about 7 km thick rock strata underwent denudation over 17 Ma at a rate of about 0.4 mm/year. In passive phase, about 6 km thick rock strata were eroded over 57 Ma, with a denudation rate of about 0.1 mm/year. Thus, the Zagan metamorphic core complex was tectonically exposed from the mid-crust to depths of about 9 km in the Early Cretaceous as a result of post-collisional collapse of the Mongol-Okhotsk orogen. Further cooling of the rocks in the metamorphic core to depths of about 3 km occurred in the Late Cretaceous – Pliocene as a result of destruction of more than 6 km high mountains.

Consideration is being given to the Onega Paleoproterozoic structure (Onega synclinorium, OS) as a tectonotype of intraplate negative structures, which experience intermittent subsidence over a long period of time. The paper presents a model of the OS and discusses its tectonic evolution. The model is based on the geological and structural data, already published and collected so far by the authors, as well as on the data concerning the OS deep structure, particularly on the interpretation of the 1-EV seismic profile and potential fields. The proposed model illustrates an example of conjectured interaction between different geodynamic factors and explains reasons for the development of the OS throughout the Paleoproterozoic, including the periods of intense subsidence and magmatism, inversions of local basins comprising the Onega trough, and deformations of the Paleoproterozoic strata. An important role in the formation of the OS was played by shear dislocations within an imbricate fan of its controlling Central-Karelian shear zone. The shear dislocations were accompanied by rotation of a large block located to the west of the OS, which led to the rotational-indentational interaction between adjacent blocks and to compensated coexistence among transtensional and transpressional regimes along their separating shear zone. Compensatory dynamic mechanism also manifested itself in crustal layers at the base of the OS. Horizontal flow of the mid-crustal masses and their outflow from the depression were compensated by the development of deep-seated thrust duplexes and uplifts around the depression as well as by the upper crustal extension associated with low-angle dilatant normal faulting. Successive propagation of these faults, dynamically related to shear dislocations within an imbricate fan of the Central Karelia zone, controlled the formation features and southward migration of the OS-contained basins as well as magmatic and syllogenesis-related occurrences. Multilayered subhorizontal flow of low-viscosity rocks at the base and inside the OS section against the background of shear dislocations gave rise to the occurrence of crest-like and diapir-like folding. The processes of OS formation occurred amid the development and localization of active mantle plumes and asthenospheric diapirs. One of the factors of their development and localization were the phenomena of relative decompression within the imbrication fan of the Central Karelian shear zone.

The Vladimirskoe deposit is one of the largest gold ore deposits in the southeastern part of the Eastern Sayan. This work is devoted to the localization of mineralized zones and the determination of the formation time of gold mineralization.

The geological and structural analysis has shown that second-order discontinuous disturbances accompanied by zones of beresitization, calcification, sulfidization and dyke bodies are the main ore-controlling structures of gold mineralization. For the first time, the age of rocks of dyke complexes and ore mineralized zones of the deposit has been established by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating methods.

In this paper we present the results on apatite fission-track dating, which was first performed at the Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences, using the laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS, Dobretsov Geological Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences) for two intrusions of the Siberian Permian-Triassic large igneous province: Magan alkaline-ultramafic pluton (two samples) and Kontay intrusion (one sample). The obtained AFT ages are 217.6±18.6 and 238.8±35.8 Ma (95% confidence) for the Magan intrusion and 150.0±23.0 Ma for the Kontay intrusion and mark the time since they have been cooled below 120 °C. The distributions of track lengths in apatite grains from the studied samples indicate their rapid cooling to near-surface temperatures. We provide a detailed description of the method used, and also demonstrate that the results of fissiontrack analysis performed on the "sample-to-sample" principle by the classical external detector method (EDM) and the LA-ICP-MS method in the modification of the zeta calibration coincide within the age uncertainty.

The May 27, 1995 Mw=7.0 Neftegorsk earthquake occurred in the north of Sakhalin Island, rupturing the Upper Piltun fault, a secondary feature of the main Hokkaido-Sakhalin regional fault zone. The fault geometry, coseismic slip model, and Coulomb stress changes in the earthquake focal area were calculated based on a finite fault modeling. We used near-field coseismic offsets at 24 points obtained by comparison between predating triangulation and GPS observations, which were collected before and after the earthquake. Our slip distribution model shows two major slip patches. Larger slip asperity (amplitude up to 6.36 m) was characterized by right-lateral strike-slip movements, which correspond to focal mechanism of the earthquake, whereas the northern segment has reverse fault mechanism with maximum slip of 2.64 m. The fault length and width, average slip and stress drop values are estimated at 78 km, 28 km, 1.91 m and 11.3 MPa, respectively. The estimated release moment is approximately 7.49×10¹⁹ N∙m equal to Mw=7.2, which is larger than that reported by the USGS and GCMT but consistent with the values reported by other researchers. The coseismic Coulomb stress changes enhanced the stress by more than 10 MPa on the southern segment of the Gyrgylaninsky fault and middle section of the Hokkaido–Sakhalin fault. Seismic risks on the nearest faults cannot be ignored in the future despite the fact that the earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 occurred in 2010 near the Gyrgylaninsky fault. The recent GPS rates in the surroundings of the Neftegorsk surface rupture mean that the recurrence interval for similar earthquakes may be more than a thousand years.

The paper considers the heterogeneities of short-period shear waves attenuation field in the east Kazakhstan lithosphere including the region of the Semipalatinsk Test Site where a lot of test detonations of nuclear weapons were performed underground in the past. The common S-waves coda envelopes were obtained by the records of near calibration explosions and quarry blasts as well as local earthquakes on the data from permanent and temporary stations. The obtained data allowed us to create attenuation field sections in the lithosphere of the considered region. The attenuation field heterogeneities were mapped for the lower crust and uppermost mantle of the east Kazakhstan. Very low Q-factor values (Qs~40–55) correspond to several stations installed in the area of the Balapan test site where the most powerful test explosions were conducted. These values are much lower than the minimum values corresponding to a large number of stations installed in seismically active region of the Northern Tien Shan. It is supposed that this is due to upwelling of deep-seated fluids along the active fault zones under a long-term intensive vibration effect. The obtained data can be used to reveal the zones having high concentration of fluids in the lithosphere parts of probable large earthquake generation. This information is quite important due to the planned construction of nuclear power plant in the east Kazakhstan region.

The article considers the method of observations, interpretation of data and results of electromagnetic monitoring with a controlled source for one of the seismically active regions of Siberia – Mountain (Gorny) Altai. The monitoring is carried out during the aftershock period in the epicentral zone of the destructive Chuya earthquake of 2003 with M=7.3. For regular observations, a measurement technique has been developed with several modifications of the transient electromagnetics method (TEM) to determine variations in electrical resistivity and anisotropy coefficient. The long-term series of these two geoelectric parameters of the section are presented, compared with the characteristics of the ongoing seismic events. The analysis shows that variations in electrical resistance and electrical anisotropy reflect the development and gradual attenuation of aftershock activity of a powerful earthquake. The advantages of the TEM method and the chosen methodology for monitoring in complex areas are reflected.

Geological examples of the development of thermal dome structures in the Svecofennian belt demonstrate the relationship between plutonic and metamorphic events and metamorphic strengthening towards the core parts of the structures. The corresponding 2D geological model has been created to make a quantitative assessment of the effect of mantle magmas temperature at the base of the crust and the formation of the diapiric cores surrounded by high-temperature areas with a degree of granulite facies metamorphism. Modeling shows that there is a possibility of melting of the lower crust in the presence of a water fluid under the influence of mantle magmas. After melting, there occurs an ascent of partially molten material towards the upper crustal levels. An absorbed aqueous fluid changes to hydrous melt, thus lowering its viscosity and density. The ascending height of high-temperature cores is determined by the depth of viscous-to-elastoplastic transition in the crustal matter rheology. These materials ascend to upper levels in a partially molten state in the process of overthrusting due to "collisional" tectonics.