South-western part of East European Platform: history of geological evolution in the context of further prospecting for hydrocarbon accumulations

The authors present the arguments in favour of Riphean isolation of south-eastern part of East European Platform including Scythian and Turanian plates. They discuss evolution history of the Caspian Basin and its southern neighbourhood. The main stages of the modern structure are identified. Scheme of detachment of the south-eastern part of the East European Platform is proposed and main stages of its geological evolution are identified. The major stages are: subsidence of the Caspian Basin in Middle Bashkirian; right-lateral shifting of Scythian-Turanian plate; its splitting at Palaeozoic-to-Mesozoic transition with left-lateral shifting of the Turanian part. Analysis of their geodynamic interaction history overthrows the existing ideas of structure and origin of Greater Donbass, Karpinsky Ridge, and Mangyshlak mountain system, as well as their consolidation into a single geodynamic structure due to different time and genesis of their formation. As a main focus areas of prospecting for new HC accumulations, the authors propose the terrigenous Carboniferous deposits having thickness increasing behind carbonate benches, Akzhar-Vostochny-type objects, as well as non-anticlinal and combination traps in Mesozoic-Cenozoic section