Baikal Rift Zone

The Baikal Rift Zone is a series of continental rifts centered beneath Lake Baikal in southeastern Russia, extending more than 2,000 kilometers along the boundary between the Eurasian plate to the west and the Amur plate to the east. The plates are currently diverging at 3 to 4 millimeters a year, a mix of extensional pulling-apart and left-lateral strike-slip shearing along parts of the system, and the rift's structure comprises multiple basins strung along its length, the deepest being the Central Basin beneath Lake Baikal itself. Evidence points to significant thinning of the crust beneath the rift, though researchers still dispute exactly how much thinner it is than the surrounding crust, with estimates under 10 kilometers of difference. This entity documents the Baikal Rift Zone specifically as a geological formation, the rift structure itself, distinct from Lake Baikal, the body of water that fills its deepest basin.