The late Paleozoic-early Mesozoic fold system of the Urals-Novaya Zemlya region and the Paleozoic-Cenozoic Pechora depression formed on folded pre-Mesozoic basement. The fold system may be divided into the Polar Ural and Pay-Khoy anticlinoriums and the structures of Novaya Zemlya. In the inland part of the Ural region, at the juncture of the fold system and the depression, a set of foredeep basins is recognized.

A complex of Precambrian, Paleozoic, and early Mesozoic (within the foredeep) sedimentary and volcanic rocks is involved in the formation of the Ural-Novaya Zemlya fold system. The thickness of Precambrian formations exceeds 3,000 m; that of Paleozoic rocks is over 10,000 m. Paleozoic (Ordovician and higher) strata transgressively and unconformably overlie the older formations. Important hiatuses in the Paleozoic section are recognized in pre-Late Devonian (Novaya Zemlya) and in Late Carboniferous rocks (Pay-Khoy, Novaya Zemlya).

Volcanic strata of predominantly mafic composition form a considerable part of the Precambrian (Polar Urals, Novaya Zemlya, Pay-Khoy) and Late Devonian sequences. Volcanic rocks of late Mesozoic-early Paleozoic age are found in northeastern Pay-Khoy. The following intrusive complexes are found in this area: an ancient pre-Ordovician and partially pre-Silurian ultramafic to acidic intrusive complex (Polar Urals, Pay-Khoy, Novaya Zemlya), a Caledonian (Silurian-Devonian) complex of ultramafic, mafic, and acidic intrusions (Polar Urals and Novaya Zemlya), and Hercynian mafic and acidic intrusions (Novaya Zemlya and the Polar Urals).