Baikal Rift Zone

The Baikal rift zone is a divergent plate boundary beneath Lake Baikal in southern Siberia in Russia. They evolved over millions of years by a zone of weakness to a grave breach, and broadens and deepens still about two centimeters per year. The zone was created by the drifting apart of the Eurasian Plate and the Amurplatte, caused by the collision with the far southern Indian plate, which presses apart like a wedge, said plates. The Amurplatte moves with four millimeters per year in the direction of Japan.

The crack is about 1600 kilometers long, filled almost six miles deep and with sediments. Therefore, the Baikal reaches "only" up to 1642 meters depth.

As with all grave breaks the crust is under the Baikal relatively thin, which thermal springs are present both on land and under the Baikal, although so far no evidence of volcanic activity were found in the immediate vicinity of the lake. However, volcanic activity occurred in, viewed with geological standards, recently, which can be assigned to the Baikal rift zone. These volcanic centers are the Udokan plateau about 400 kilometers northeast of the northern tip of Lake Baikal, the Oka plateau about 200 kilometers northwest of the southwestern tip of Lake Baikal and the Witimplateau some 200 kilometers east of the rift zone.