The authors discuss the principal features of Résumé. Les auteurs discutent les traits principaux de la tectonics in the South USSR. The general review is pre- tectonique des contrées méridionales de l'URSS. La revue sented of the oil and gas distribution all over the Mesozoic générale de la distribution du pétrole et du gaz à travers sequence along with the short characterization of the la coupe verticale du Mésozoique est présentée, accomreservoirs. Zones of oil and gas accumulation as well, as pagnée d'une caractérisation sommaire des roches magathe single fields are described. Oil and gas possibilities in sins. On donne la description de zones entières d'accumuthe Mesozoic rocks within the regions of the South USSR lation du pétrole et du gaz et des champs pétroliers isolés. are briefly outlined. Les auteurs présentent finalement un aperqu général des possibilités en gaz et en pétrole des terrains Mésozoiques dans les contrées Sud de l'URSS.
The commercial productivity of the Mesozoic in from Crimea in the West to the spurs of Tien-Shan the confines of the Southern part of the USSR was in the East. proved in the course of the latest decade, due to a This same fact affirmed the prognostics of oil and rather large development of geological, geophy- gas possibilities of the Mesozoic in the Soiith USSR sical and drilling activities. suggested by Soviet geologists (I. M. Gubkin, A. V.
In the prerevolutionary Russia almost all amount Ul'yanov, I. O. Brod et ai). of the oil was extracted from Tertiary, more partic- From the tectonic standpoint the Southern part ularly from Neogene sedim'ents. In the course of of the USSR is pronouncediy heterogenous. There the latter thirties, on the contrary, a big oil field may be defined three principal structural zones: was discovsered in the Paleozoic strata within the a) the alpine folded area, comprising the Great Volga-Urals region. The years following the World- Caucasus, the Kopet-Dag mountains and Pamirs; war II were marked by opening and exploitation of b) the so-called "activated platform" area which new oil fields in the well-known oil and gas areas; embraoes the Little Caucasus and the Tien-Shan at the same time exploration for oil and gas was mountainous system and c) the epihercynian platlargely developed in numerous new regions of our form, which includes the Crimea peninsula, the country: West and East Siberia, plains of Middle main part of the Asof sea, the Ciscaspian region, the .4sia, Ciscacpiaii region, etc. These activities r(e- Northern part of the Caspian sea and western resulted most successfully in discovering of a num- gions of Middle Asia. The northern border of the ber of oil and gas fields in the South of our country epihercynian platform
