Middle-Urals Ring Structure

The Middle-Urals Ring Structure (MURS) is a circular structure located in the central Ural Mountains.[1][2] The structure has a diameter in the range of 400 to 550 km and formed in the Precambrian prior to the Uralian orogeny.[1][2]

Middle-Urals Ring Structure
Location in Russia
Middle-Urals Ring Structure
Centre of the Middle-Urals Ring Structure in relation to some major cities of eastern European Russia

The structure is reflected in the bend of Ural Mountains at 56° N and in a concentric-radial drainage pattern seen in the Belaya and Kama rivers and their tributaries.[2]

The Middle-Urals Ring Structure has been identified as a possible impact structure[1][2] and it has also been posited that the pre-existing ring structure disturbed the development of the Uralian orogeny causing the east-convex bend of the mountains.[2]

The eastern rim of the structure contains the main Ural ore fields of iron, copper, chromite, nickel, titanium, gold and platinum.[2] On the western half of the structure there are important oil fields.[2] In addition the Middle-Urals Ring Structure hosts world-class deposits of gemstones.[3]

References
  1. G. Burba (1991). Middle-Urals Ring structure, USSR: Definition, description, possible planetary analogues, Lunar and Planetary Science conference XXII.
  2. G. Burba (2003). The geologic evolution of the Ural Mountains: A supposed exposure to a giant impact. Microsymposium 38, MS011, 2003
  3. Saul, John M. (2017). "Transparent gemstones and the most recent supercontinent cycle". International Geology Review. doi:10.1080/00206814.2017.1354730.
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