Baikal System of Rifts

a system of depressions of the graben type. (The graben type exists on a global scale and has an abyssal formation.) The Baikal system of rifts is located on the northwestern edge of the Lake Baikal area. Its major element is the depression of Lake Baikal. In the northeast and east this system extends in the direction of the Stanovoi Ridge, and in the southwest it runs across the Tunkinskii Depression to Lake Khubsugul. The development of the Baikal system of rifts occurred during the Neocene and the Quaternary ages and was accompanied by volcanic activity (now extinct). Development continues in the present, as can be seen from the great seismic activity in the area. The abyssal structure of the Baikal system of rifts has been interpreted in various ways by researchers. Some, referring to the gravimetric data, propose a thickening of the earth’s crust in this region. On the contrary, others suppose a thinning, with a thickening of the top of the mantle.