Tectonic evolution of the southwestern framing of the Siberian Platform inthe Vendian-Cambrian according to paleomagnetic data

We report generalized paleomagnetic data on the Vendian-Cambrian Island-arc complexes of the southwestern framing of the Siberian Platform. They allow restoration of the arrangement of fragments of paleoisland arcs in the mod ern tectonic collage of the Altai-Sayan folded area (ASFA) at two stages: V endian-Cambrian and Middle-Late Cambrian. Analysis of these data allowed us to establish the major periods of tectonic evolution of the Siberian margi nal structure from the time of formation of the island arcs to the stage of collision and attachment of terrains to the Siberian continent. Unlike the existing reconstructions of the structure and development of the ASFA, this reconstruction is based on new paleomagnetic data. It agrees wi th the available paleobiogeographic general conclusions and all geological data with minimum assumptions in interpreting the history of the geodynamic development of the region. The constructed model confirms the earlier conclusions about the leading ro le of strike-slip faults in the formation of the Central Asian structure.