Structural Associations of the Basement and Sedimentary Cover of the Georgian Part of the Caucasus

Abstract

Investigations in the Caucasian region have clearly shown the two-staged structure of the upper part of the earth’s crust: the pre-Mesozoic crystalline basement, and the overlying thick sedimentary cover composed of terrigenous, carbonate, volcanogenic, and molasse formations of Mesozoic-Cenozoic age. Structurally, the basement is characterized by mosaic block structure. Kinematics of basement blocks and their relative vertical and horizontal movement along faults are expressed in the sedimentary cover in the from of zones of intensive structure formation. Structural associations between tectonic forms in the basement and overlying sedimentary cover are clearly visible. The study of morphology and characteristic patterns of spatial interposition of tectonic forms helps to determine kinematics of transverse faults and consequently, the displacement of individual blocks of the basement.