ABSTRACT
Plumes covered by younger formations function as an original die whose deep-level relief appears on the surface as corresponding zones of dilatation. The origin of the mantle plumes of the Caribbean serpentinite belt was accompanied by simultaneous subsidence of the megadome, which resulted in formation of the Caribbean Sea as a compensation basin. The natural magnetic field of ancient platforms presents a characteristic distribution, which forms the basis for tectonic regional classification of the Russian plate. In a tectonic context this innovation played a significant role since the inferred seismic inhomogeneities were detected at the base of protoplatform massifs and were traced to transcrustal depths. The opening of the Red Sea basin is exclusively related to riftogenic plutonotectonic activity and subsequent spreading. In this connection, geophysical data has revealed that beneath the rift structure the zone of crustal thinning due to rift formation is tenfold wider than the area in which this process is expressed morphologically.
