GEODYNAMICS

In order to study the deep structure of the southwestern Ukrainian Carpathians, where the Carpathian conductivity anomaly is located, in 2015 and 2020, modern synchronous magnetotelluric studies were carried out on the profiles of Mukachevo-Skole, Seredne-Borynya and Karpatsky at twenty-three points and the spatiotemporal distribution and the electric field on the Earth's surface, which can be used to assess the conductivity and geoelectrical structure of the region, was obtained. Processing of experimental data was performed using the software PRC_MTMV, which provides a common noise-canceling impedance estimation for synchronous magnetotellurical recordings. Curves of apparent electrical resistivity (amplitude values and phases of impedance) from 10 to 10000 s were obtained reliably. A joint analysis of the apparent resistivity and impedance phases and the formal interpretation of the deep magnetotellurical sounding curves using the Niblett transformation indicate the presence of the spatially inhomogeneous conductor both in the earth's crust and in the upper part of the upper mantle. The chain of local conductive sections in the earth's crust coincides with the axial part of the Carpathian conductivity anomaly. High conductivity of the upper mantle was recorded in the Ukrainian Carpathians from the Transcarpathian Depression to the Skiba cover. It is shown that it is not a homogeneous layer, there is a general deepening of the upper edge to the northeast from 40-60 km (Transcarpathian depression) to 90-100 km (Krosno cover). Sharp deepening along the Porkulets and Dukla covers is revealed. Information about the existence of a deep conductor and its parameters should be the basis for quantitative interpretation and construction of the 3D deep geoelectrical model.

Asthenosphere dynamics based on the H2O dependence of element diffusivity in olivine

The oceanic asthenosphere shows two enigmatic features: low viscosity and high electrical conductivity. Their origins gather wide attention, but remain unsolved. Recent self-diffusivity measurements as a function of H2O content in olivine demonstrated that the H2O-incorporation in olivine cannot soften the asthenosphere, but it enhances the ionic conductivity, and causes the high-conductivity anomaly.

Locating Seismo-Conductivity Anomaly before the 2017 MW 6.5 Jiuzhaigou Earthquake in China Using Far Magnetic Stations

Changes in the underlying conductivity around hypocenters are generally considered one of the promising mechanisms of seismo-electromagnetic anomaly generation. Parkinson vectors are indicators of high-conductivity materials and were utilized to remotely monitor conductivity changes during the MW 6.5 Jiuzhaigou earthquake (103.82°E, 33.20°N) on 8 August 2017. Three-component geomagnetic data recorded in 2017 at nine magnetic stations with epicenter distances of 63–770 km were utilized to compute the azimuths of the Parkinson vectors based on the magnetic transfer function. The monitoring and background distributions at each station were constructed by using the azimuths within a 15-day moving window and over the entire study period, respectively. The background distribution was subtracted from the monitoring distribution to mitigate the effects of underlying inhomogeneous electric conductivity structures. The differences obtained at nine stations were superimposed and the intersection of a seismo-conductivity anomaly was located about 70 km away from the epicenter about 17 days before the earthquake. The anomaly disappeared about 7 days before and remained insignificant after the earthquake. Analytical results suggested that the underlying conductivity close to the hypocenter changed before the Jiuzhaigou earthquake. These changes can be detected simultaneously by using multiple magnetometers located far from the epicenter. The disappearance of the seismo-conductivity anomaly after the earthquake sheds light on a promising candidate of the pre-earthquake anomalous phenomena.

A regional Alpine graphite décollement level beneath the NW Pannonian Basin

The so-called Transdanubian Conductivity Anomaly (TCA) of the Hungarian part of the NW Pannonian Basin has been well known for more than five decades. The exceptionally low resistivity (i.e. 1–2 Ωm) zone has a very large areal extent (on the order a few thousand km2) and it is an entirely subsurface anomaly occurring at depth between circa 3–15 km, with no corresponding outcrops. Various geological explanations of this enigmatic crustal-scale geophysical anomaly range from invoking sub-horizontal Alpine nappe contacts to sub-vertical dikes with graphite and/or saline fluid content. Only one possible analogue outcrop area was considered for the high conductivity anomaly so far, namely the Drauzug/Gailtal area of the Eastern Alps in Austria, some 300 km to the West from the TCA area. Previous attempts to find correspondence between the TCA and prominent seismic reflectors seen on 2D seismic reflection profiles were based on data acquired by research institutions. This study systematically correlates, for the first time, the TCA with 2D industry seismic reflection data in the same area. Our new results show a very strong correlation between the subsurface extent and location of the TCA with various sub-horizontally oriented Cretaceous Alpine nappe surfaces. In addition, we draw on the latest structural correlation of the Alpine nappe stack of the Transdanubian Range with its proper tectonic counterpart in the Eastern Alps.At the southern edge of the Upper Austroalpine units in northern Styria, in the Veitsch Nappe of the Greywacke Zone, numerous graphite localities are known historically. These laterally extensive graphite units in NW Styria formed as the result of greenschist-grade metamorphism of a Carboniferous coal sequence during the Cretaceous. For the first time, we describe here one well penetration of possibly age-equivalent graphitic units in NW Hungary. Correlation of the magnetotelluric anomaly with the distinct reflection seismic signature suggests that the same Palaeozoic graphitebearing Upper Austroalpine units should be present at 3–15 km depth in our study area.Therefore we propose that the best explanation for the observed extent and geometry of the TCA is the presence of graphite in subhorizontal, tectonically thinned detachment surfaces at the base of the Upper Austroalpine nappe edifice of NW Hungary