Siberia (continent)

{{short description|Ancient craton forming the Central Siberian Plateau}} [[File:Siberian craton location.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Current location of the remains of the ancient landmass of Siberia in north Asia ]] '''Siberia''', also known as '''Siberian Craton''', '''Angaraland''' (or simply '''Angara''') and '''Angarida''',<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Klets | first1 = A. G. | last2 = Budnikov | first2 = I. V. | last3 = Kutygin | first3 = R. V. | last4 = Biakov | first4 = A. S. | last5 = Grinenko | first5 = V. S. | title = The Permian of the Verkhoyansk–Okhotsk region, NE Russia | year = 2006 | journal = Journal of Asian Earth Sciences | volume = 26 | issue = 3 | pages = 258–268 | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248352877 | doi = 10.1016/j.jseaes.2005.10.001| bibcode = 2006JAESc..26..258K }}</ref> is an ancient craton in the heart of Siberia. Today forming the Central Siberian Plateau, it formed an independent landmass prior to its fusion into Pangaea during the late Carboniferous-Permian. The Verkhoyansk Sea, a passive continental margin, was fringing the Siberian Craton to the east in what is now the East Siberian Lowland.<ref>[https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Permian-paleogeography-of-Northeast-Asia-for-the-Gizhigian-Capitanian-age-in-the_fig1_240401819 Permian bivalve mollusks of Northeast Asia, Fig. 1]</ref>

Angaraland was named in the 1880s by Austrian geologist Eduard Suess who erroneously believed that in the Paleozoic Era there were two large continents in the Northern Hemisphere: "Atlantis", which was North America connected to Europe via a peninsula (Greenland and Iceland), and "Angara-land", which would have been eastern Asia, named after the Angara River in Siberia.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Sprague de Camp | first = L. | author-link = L. Sprague de Camp | title = Lost Continents: The Atlantis Theme in History, Science, and Literature | year = 1970 | publisher = Courier Corporation | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HTxGWKsiJ-8C&pg=PA154 | access-date = 25 October 2015 | isbn = 9780486226682}}</ref>

==Tectonics== About 2.5 billion years ago (in the Siderian Period), Siberia was part of a continent called Arctica, along with the Canadian Shield. Around 1.1 billion years ago (in the Stenian Period), Siberia became part of the supercontinent of Rodinia, which lasted until the Tonian about 750 million years ago when it broke up, and Siberia became part of the landmass of Protolaurasia. During the Ediacaran Period around 600 million years ago, Protolaurasia became part of the southern supercontinent of Pannotia. Around 550 million years ago, both Pannotia and Protolaurasia split up to become the continents of Laurentia, Baltica and Siberia.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}[[File:Ordovician 470.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of Earth's continents and oceans in the middle of the Ordovician Period, about 470 million years ago (SI=Siberia, LA=Laurentia, BA=Baltica)]] Siberia was an independent continent through the early Paleozoic until, during the Carboniferous Period, it collided with the minor continent of Kazakhstania. A subsequent collision with Euramerica/Laurussia during the Late Carboniferous-Permian formed Pangaea.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Xu |first1=Yan |last2=Han |first2=Bao-Fu |last3=Liao |first3=Wen |last4=Li |first4=Ang |date=March 2022 |title=The Serpukhovian–Bashkirian Amalgamation of Laurussia and the Siberian Continent and Implications for Assembly of Pangea |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022TC007218 |journal=Tectonics |language=en |volume=41 |issue=3 |doi=10.1029/2022TC007218 |s2cid=247459291 |issn=0278-7407|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Pangaea split up during the Jurassic though Siberia stayed with Laurasia. Laurasia gradually split up during the Cretaceous with Siberia remaining part of present-day northeastern Eurasia. Today, Siberia forms part of the landmass of Afro-Eurasia. To the east it is joined to the North American plate at the Chersky Range. In around 250 million years from now Siberia may be in the subtropical region and part of the new supercontinent of Pangaea Proxima.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

==Features== *Akitkan Orogen<ref>[https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Schematic-map-of-the-Siberian-craton-showing-boundaries-of-the-craton-1-and-its_fig11_27202807 Schematic map of the Siberian craton showing boundaries of the craton and its terranes]</ref> *Aldan Shield *Anabar Shield *Birekte terrane<ref>[https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Schematic-map-of-ancient-terrains-and-kimberlitic-fields-in-the-Siberian-craton-with-the_fig1_283193510 Schematic map of ancient terrains and kimberlitic fields in the Siberian craton]</ref> *Daldyn terrane *Magan terrane *Olenyok Uplift *Stanovoy tectonic zone<ref>[https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/rgg/article-abstract/43/1/1/591125/YAKUTIAN-KIMBERLITE-PROVINCE-POSITION-IN-THE YAKUTIAN KIMBERLITE PROVINCE: POSITION IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE SIBERIAN CRATON AND COMPOSITION OF THE UPPER AND LOWER CRUST]</ref> *Tunguska Basin *Tungus terrane

==See also== * {{portal-inline|Geology}} * {{portal-inline|Siberia}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Cite web | last = Blakey | first = R. | title = Global Earth History: Sedimentation, Tectonics, and Paleogeography of Asia | publisher = Northern Arizona University | url = http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~rcb7/paleogeographic_asia.html | access-date = 25 October 2015 | archive-date = 16 June 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180616101653/http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~rcb7/paleogeographic_asia.html | url-status = dead }}(History of Siberia as well as other parts of Asia)

Category:Historical continents Category:Tectonic plates Category:Historical tectonic plates Continent Category:Paleozoic Asia Category:Paleozoic geology Category:Geology of Russia Category:Natural history of Asia Category:Geology of Krasnoyarsk Krai Category:Geology of the Sakha Republic