Vol 53, No 4 (2017)

The state of the art in the geological and geophysical study of the region of Koyna and Warna water reservoirs is reviewed. The probable geodynamical factors of induced seismicity are discussed. The detailed geophysical surveys, satellite geodetic data, and time history of the seismicity in the region reveal a complicated pattern of the structure and recent geodynamics of the region. The existing data suggest that the induced seismicity is here most likely to be caused by the regional (intraplate) stresses driving the displacements along the orthogonal network of the faults whose strength has dropped and continues decreasing due to the reservoir impoundment and operation processes. The evolution of the seismicity which started immediately after the rapid filling of the Koyna reservoir in the region of the dam, then rapidly expanded southwards and eventually became concentrated in the region of the subsequently constructed Warna reservoir shows that seismic events can be initiated by a number of factors whose contributions may vary with time. The key ones among them include reservoir loading and its seasonal variations; water saturation of the faults which guide the propagation of the front of fracture, increased permeability, and, probably, mineral transformations (hydrolysis) under the water level fluctuations in the reservoirs; and displacement of the front of the high pore pressure down to the main source zone of the earthquakes at a depth of 6–8 km. Based on the analysis presented in the paper, we outline the directions of the future research aimed at studying the nature and dynamics of induced seismicity in the region of large water reservoirs.

For more than a decade, the global network of GPS stations whose measurements are part of the International GPS Service (IGS) have been recording cyclic variations in the radius vector of the geodetic ellipsoid with a period of one year and amplitude of ~10 mm. The analysis of the figure of the Earth carried out by us shows that the observed variations in the vertical component of the Earth’s surface displacements can induce small changes in the flattening of the Earth’s figure which are, in turn, caused by the instability of the Earth’s rotation. The variations in the angular velocity and flattening of the Earth change the kinetic energy of the Earth’s rotation. The additional energy is ~10²¹ J. The emerging variations in the flattening of the Earth’s ellipsoid lead to changes in the surface area of the Earth’s figure, cause the development of deformations in rocks, accumulation of damage, activation of seismotectonic processes, and preparation of earthquakes. It is shown that earthquakes can be caused by the instability of the Earth’s rotation which induces pulsations in the shape of the Earth and leads to the development of alternating-sign deformations in the Earth’s solid shell.

The problem of calculating complete synthetic seismograms from a point dipole with an arbitrary seismic moment tensor in a plane parallel medium composed of homogeneous elastic isotropic layers is considered. It is established that the solutions of the system of ordinary differential equations for the motion–stress vector have a reciprocity property, which allows obtaining a compact formula for the derivative of the motion vector with respect to the source depth. The reciprocity theorem for Green’s functions with respect to the interchange of the source and receiver is obtained for a medium with cylindrical boundary. The differentiation of Green’s functions with respect to the coordinates of the source leads to the same calculation formulas as the algorithm developed in the previous work (Pavlov, 2013). A new algorithm appears when the derivatives with respect to the horizontal coordinates of the source is replaced by the derivatives with respect to the horizontal coordinates of the receiver (with the minus sign). This algorithm is more transparent, compact, and economic than the previous one. It requires calculating the wavenumbers associated with Bessel function’s roots of order 0 and order 1, whereas the previous algorithm additionally requires the second order roots.

Parker’s two-dimensional (2D) dynamo model with an algebraic form of nonlinearity for the α-effect is considered. The model uses geostrophic distributions for the α-effect and differential rotation, which are derived from the three-dimensional (3D) convection models. The resulting configurations of the magnetic field in the liquid core are close to the solutions in Braginsky’s Z-model. The implications of the degree of geostrophy observed in the 3D dynamo models for the behavior of the mean magnetic field are explored. It is shown that the reduction in geostrophy leads to magnetic field reversals accompanied by the relative growth of the nondipole component of the field on the surface of the liquid core. The simulations with a random α-effect which causes turbulent pulsations are carried out. The approach is capable of producing realistic sequences of magnetic reversals.

A geodetic network of Global Satellite Navigation System (GNSS) observation sites was organized in 2014–2015 for studying the contemporary crustal motions in the zone of the Vladikavkaz deep fault (Milyukov et al., 2014; 2015). The measurements were conducted and the first velocity estimates obtained testifying to the consistency of crustal motions in the Vladikavkaz fault zone and the Ossetian region overall in the ITRG2008 system. The first results show that the velocities and directions of horizontal motions do not change upon the transition of the fault zone. In correspondence with the northeastern orientation of the site displacement vectors and sublatitudinal trend of the disjunctive zone, the presence of left-lateral strike-slip displacements along the branches of an active fault should be expected. However, the signs pointing to the activation of motion in the fault zone are absent. Besides, even the manifestation of weak seismicity has not been observed within the high-magnitude seismogenic Vladikavkaz zone associated with this fault for more than 25 years. This suggests the passive present state of this structure, one of the largest disjunctive structures of the Northern Caucasus. In order to verify this conclusion and revealing the kinematic pattern of the displacements associated with the fault structure it is reasonable to continue the measurements.