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 region, 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 ...

. 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 System (stratigraphy), 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. The Verkhoyansk Sea, a passive continental margin, was fringing the Siberian Craton to the east in what is now the East Siberian Lowland. 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 The Siderian Period (; grc, σίδηρος, sídēros, meaning "iron") is the first geologic period in the Paleoproterozoic Era and lasted from Ma to Ma (million years ago). Instead of being based on stratigraphy, these dates are defined chr ...

), 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 Sla ...

, along with the Canadian Shield. 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 ...

), 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, a state of affairs which lasted until the Cryogenian 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 (unit), Mya), the other being Gondwana. It separated from Gondwana (beginning in the late Triassic period) during the bre ...

. During the Ediacaran Period around 600 million years ago, Protolaurasia became part of the southern supercontinent of Pannotia 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, althoug ...

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, ...

and Siberia.

Paleozoic history

Siberia was an independent continent through the lower Paleozoic until, during the 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

during the

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 The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...

though Siberia stayed with Laurasia. Laurasia gradually split up during the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

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. 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 Pacif ...

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 ...

. In around 250 million years from now Siberia may be in the subtropical region and part of the new supercontinent of

Pangaea Ultima Pangaea Proxima (also called Pangaea Ultima, Neopangaea, and Pangaea II) is a possible future supercontinent configuration. Consistent with the supercontinent cycle, Pangaea Proxima could occur within the next 200 million years. This potential c ...

Features

* Akitkan Orogen * Aldan Shield *

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 su ...

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 l ...

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 Tungusic peoples are an ethno-linguistic group formed by the speakers of Tungusic languages (or Manchu–Tungus languages). They are Indigenous peoples of Siberia, native to Siberia and Northeast Asia. The Tungusic phylum is divided into two main ...

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 In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas t ...