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Siberia, also known as Angaraland (or simply Angara) and Angarida, is an ancient
craton A craton (, , or ; from grc-gre, κράτος "strength") is an old and stable part of the continental lithosphere, which consists of Earth's two topmost layers, the crust and the uppermost mantle. Having often survived cycles of merging and ...
in the heart of
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
. Today forming the
Central Siberian Plateau The Central Siberian Plateau (russian: Среднесибирское плоскогорье, Srednesibirskoye ploskogorye; sah, Орто Сибиир хаптал хайалаах сирэ) is a vast mountainous area in Siberia, one of the Gre ...
, it was an independent continent before the
Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...
period. The
Verkhoyansk Sea Verkhoyansk ( rus, Верхоянск, p=vʲɪrxɐˈjansk; sah, Верхоянскай, ''Verkhoyanskay'') is a town in Verkhoyansky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located on the Yana River in the Arctic Circle, from Batagay, the ...
, a passive continental margin, was fringing the Siberian Craton to the east in what is now the
East Siberian Lowland The East Siberian Lowland ( rus, Восточно-Сибирская низменность), also known as Yana-Kolyma Lowland,Oleg Leonidovič Kryžanovskij, ''A Checklist of the Ground-beetles of Russia and Adjacent Lands.'' p. 16 is a vast plai ...
. Angaraland was named in the 1880s by Austrian geologist
Eduard Suess Eduard Suess (; 20 August 1831 - 26 April 1914) was an Austrian geologist and an expert on the geography of the Alps. He is responsible for hypothesising two major former geographical features, the supercontinent Gondwana (proposed in 1861) and t ...
who erroneously believed that in the Paleozoic there were two large continents in the Northern Hemisphere: "Atlantis", North America connected to Europe by a peninsula (=Greenland and Iceland); and "Angara-land", eastern Asia, named after the
Angara River The Angara ( Buryat and mn, Ангар, ''Angar'',  "Cleft"; russian: Ангара́, ''Angará'') is a major river in Siberia, which traces a course through Russia's Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai. It drains out of Lake Baikal and is ...
in Siberia.


Precambrian history

About 2.5 billion years ago ( Siderian), Siberia was part of a continent called
Arctica Arctica or Arctida was an ancient continent which formed approximately 2.565  billion years ago in the Neoarchean era. It was made of Archaean cratons, including the Siberian Craton, with its Anabar/ Aldan shields in Siberia, and the Sl ...
, along with the
Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield (french: Bouclier canadien ), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the anc ...
. Around 1.1 billion years ago (
Stenian The Stenian Period (, from grc, στενός, stenós, meaning "narrow") is the final geologic period in the Mesoproterozoic Era and lasted from Mya to Mya (million years ago). Instead of being based on stratigraphy, these dates are defined c ...
), Siberia became part of the
supercontinent In geology, a supercontinent is the assembly of most or all of Earth's continental blocks or cratons to form a single large landmass. However, some geologists use a different definition, "a grouping of formerly dispersed continents", which leav ...
of
Rodinia Rodinia (from the Russian родина, ''rodina'', meaning "motherland, birthplace") was a Mesoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic supercontinent that assembled 1.26–0.90 billion years ago and broke up 750–633 million years ago. were probabl ...
, a state of affairs which lasted until the
Cryogenian The Cryogenian (from grc, κρύος, krýos, meaning "cold" and , romanized: , meaning "birth") is a geologic period that lasted from . It forms the second geologic period of the Neoproterozoic Era, preceded by the Tonian Period and followed by ...
about 750 million years ago when it broke up, and Siberia became part of the landmass of
Protolaurasia Laurasia () was the more northern of two large landmasses that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from around ( Mya), the other being Gondwana. It separated from Gondwana (beginning in the late Triassic period) during the breakup of Pan ...
. During the
Ediacaran The Ediacaran Period ( ) is a geological period that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period 635 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Cambrian Period 538.8 Mya. It marks the end of the Proterozoic Eon, and th ...
Period around 600 million years ago, Protolaurasia became part of the southern supercontinent of
Pannotia Pannotia (from Greek: '' pan-'', "all", '' -nótos'', "south"; meaning "all southern land"), also known as the Vendian supercontinent, Greater Gondwana, and the Pan-African supercontinent, was a relatively short-lived Neoproterozoic supercontinent ...
but around 550 million years ago, both Pannotia and Protolaurasia split up to become the continents of
Laurentia Laurentia or the North American Craton is a large continental craton that forms the ancient geological core of North America. Many times in its past, Laurentia has been a separate continent, as it is now in the form of North America, although ...
,
Baltica Baltica is a paleocontinent that formed in the Paleoproterozoic and now constitutes northwestern Eurasia, or Europe north of the Trans-European Suture Zone and west of the Ural Mountains. The thick core of Baltica, the East European Craton, is mo ...
and Siberia.


Paleozoic history

Siberia was an independent continent through the lower Paleozoic until, during the
Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carboniferous ...
Period, it collided with the minor continent of
Kazakhstania Kazakhstania ( kk, Qazaqstaniya), the Kazakh terranes, or the Kazakhstan Block, is a geological region in Central Asia which consists of the area roughly centered on Lake Balkhash, north and east of the Aral Sea, south of the Siberian craton and ...
. A subsequent collision with
Baltica Baltica is a paleocontinent that formed in the Paleoproterozoic and now constitutes northwestern Eurasia, or Europe north of the Trans-European Suture Zone and west of the Ural Mountains. The thick core of Baltica, the East European Craton, is mo ...
during the
Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...
completed the formation of the supercontinent
Pangaea Pangaea or Pangea () was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from the earlier continental units of Gondwana, Euramerica and Siberia during the Carboniferous approximately 335 million y ...
. The
Siberian Traps The Siberian Traps (russian: Сибирские траппы, Sibirskiye trappy) is a large region of volcanic rock, known as a large igneous province, in Siberia, Russia. The massive eruptive event that formed the traps is one of the largest ...
formed.


Mesozoic and Cenozoic history

Pangaea split up during the Jurassic though Siberia stayed with
Laurasia Laurasia () was the more northern of two large landmasses that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from around ( Mya), the other being Gondwana. It separated from Gondwana (beginning in the late Triassic period) during the breakup of Pan ...
. Laurasia gradually split up during the Cretaceous with Siberia remaining part of present-day northeastern
Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...
. Today, Siberia forms part of the landmass of
Afro-Eurasia Afro-Eurasia (also Afroeurasia, Eurafrasia or the Old World) is a landmass comprising the continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe. The terms are compound words of the names of its constituent parts. Its mainland is the largest and most populo ...
. To the east it is joined to the
North American Plate The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and the Azores. With an area of , it is the Earth's second largest tectonic plate, behind the Pacifi ...
at the
Chersky Range The Chersky Range (, ) is a chain of mountains in northeastern Siberia between the Yana River and the Indigirka River. Administratively the area of the range belongs to the Sakha Republic, although a small section in the east is within Magadan O ...
. In around 250 million years from now Siberia may be in the
subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north and ...
region and part of the new supercontinent of Pangaea Ultima.


Features

*
Akitkan Orogen The Akitkan Range (russian: хребет Акиткан; zh, 阿基特坎山) is a mountain range in Irkutsk Oblast and Buryatia, Russian Federation.Google Earth The Paleoproterozoic Akitkan Orogen is named after the range. History Between 1855 ...
*
Aldan Shield Aldan Shield (russian: Алданский щит) is a shield in Siberia. It is an exposed basement of the Siberian Craton. Together with the Anabar Shield further to the northwest, the Aldan Shield is one of the main features of the craton. T ...
*
Anabar Shield Anabar Shield (russian: Анабарский щит) is a shield in Siberia. It is an exposed basement of the Siberian Craton. Together with the Aldan Shield to the southeast, the Anabar Shield is one of the main features of the craton. On the s ...
*
Birekte Terrane The Birekte (russian: Биректе; sah, Билэктэ) is a river in Yakutia (Sakha Republic), Russia. It is a tributary of the Olenyok with a length of . Its drainage basin area is . The river flows north of the Arctic Circle, across a ...
Schematic map of ancient terrains and kimberlitic fields in the Siberian craton
/ref> * Daldyn Terrane * Magan Terrane * Olenyok Uplift *
Tunguska Basin The Tunguska Basin is a sedimentary basin, in Siberia. Geography Much of the Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province is inside. The area is of about in Krasnoyarsk Territory and Sakha Republic, between the Yenisei and Lena rivers. It contains ...
* Tungus Terrane


See also

* *


References


External links

* (History of Siberia as well as other parts of Asia) {{palaeo-geo-stub Historical continents Tectonic plates Historical tectonic plates
Continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...
Paleozoic Asia Paleozoic geology Geology of Russia Natural history of Asia North Asia Geology of Krasnoyarsk Krai Geology of the Sakha Republic