Lake Baikal by this time may turn into an ocean, follows from the results of a comprehensive study of the Baikal rift zone.
Scientists from the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Novosibirsk State University conducted a comprehensive study of the Baikal rift zone and found that the continent of Eurasia can split into two parts, and the lake can turn into an ocean in 20 million years. This was reported on Wednesday by the official publication of the SB RAS "Science in Siberia".
“The Baikal rift zone - a huge split in the earth's crust - is gradually expanding. The bottoms of the depressions deepen by 3-4 mm per year, and the mountains around the lake grow at a rate of 5-6 mm per year. If the geodynamic situation does not change, in 20 million years the largest continent will again break into two parts, and a new ocean will appear in the place of Baikal,”the message says.
Scientists analyzed the processes of accumulation of sediments in the depressions of the zone and came to the conclusion that 5-7 million years ago, tectonic activity in the region increased sharply - the mountains began to grow rapidly, and the depressions fell even deeper. Based on the analysis, a forecast was made about the timing of the division of the continent.
Such a comprehensive study of the Baikal rift zone has been carried out for the first time, the newspaper notes. Previously, geologists studied only some of its parts.
The work was published in the international scientific journal Gondwana Research.