Tectonic Movements and the Development of the Atlantic Ocean Floor Morphostructure in the Meso-Cenozoic

Abstract

The morphostructural plan of the Earth’s surface is known to have been formed as a result of prolonged geological development, starting from the Proterozoic when the continental nuclei originated. Subsequenly, different horizontal and vertical movements of lithospheric plates, folding, sedimentary cover formation, denudation and other processes repeatedly changed the aspect of our planet, gradually bringing it closer to that of today. The main features of the present-day morphostructural plan were formed in the Late Mesozoic and the Early Paleogene, and it was finally shaped at the neotectonic stage of development beginning from the Oligocene, i.e., approximately over the last 40 million years.