The Structural Features of the Pshekha–Adler Fault Zone, Greater Caucasus, According to Structural Studies

A study of minor faults and fractures carried out in the Belaya River valley made it possible to establish the tectonodynamic settings at which the Pshekha–Adler fault zone of the Greater Caucasus formed. In this zone, the presence of strike-slip displacements of different scales and the predominance of the horizontal shear setting are shown. Using the method of cataclastic analysis, differences in the parameters of the stress–strain state in different tectonic complexes and structures of the region are established. The revealed structural patterns of meridional and northeastern compression determine the nature of the meridional Pshekha-Adler fault zone as a regional right-lateral strike-slip and extensional-fault zone, with the development of NE-striking left-lateral strike-slip faults and extensional faults within this deformation zone.