STUDY OF THE DEPTH STRUCTURE OF SEISMICALLY ACTIVE ZONES BY THE METHOD OF MAGNETOTELLURIC SOUNDING

The paper presents the results of the analysis of data from magnetotelluric soundings performed in 2003-2020. A comparison of geoelectric models for the Chui and Kochkor basins of the Northern Tien Shan is shown. The main objective of the study is to identify patterns in the distribution of geoelectric inhomogeneities in the deep structure of the Bishkek geodynamic test site. Particular attention in geoelectric models was paid to the study of key objects of transition zones from mountain ranges to intermontane basins. The nature of crustal electrical conductivity anomalies is considered.

STUDY OF THE DEPTH STRUCTURE OF SEISMICALLY ACTIVE ZONES BY THE METHOD OF MAGNETOTELLURIC SOUNDING

The paper presents the results of the analysis of data from magnetotelluric soundings performed in 2003-2020. A comparison of geoelectric models for the Chui and Kochkor basins of the Northern Tien Shan is shown. The main objective of the study is to identify patterns in the distribution of geoelectric inhomogeneities in the deep structure of the Bishkek geodynamic test site. Particular attention in geoelectric models was paid to the study of key objects of transition zones from mountain ranges to intermontane basins. The nature of crustal electrical conductivity anomalies is considered.

Seafloor Methane Seepage Related to Salt Diapirism in the Northwestern Part of the German North Sea

This study focuses on seafloor methane seep sites and their distribution in the northwestern part of the German North Sea. Methane seepage is a common phenomenon along marine shelves and known to occur in the North Sea, but proof of their existence was lacking in the study area. Using a ship-based multibeam echosounder we detected a minimum of 166 flares that are indicative for free gas releases from the seafloor in the German “Entenschnabel” area, which are not related to morphologic expressions at the seafloor. However, a group of small depressions was detected lacking water column anomalies but with indications of dissolved fluid release. Spatial analysis revealed that flares were not randomly distributed but show a relation to locations of subsurface salt diapirs. More than 60% of all flares were found in the vicinity of the salt diapir “Berta”. Dissolved methane concentrations of ∼100 nM in bottom waters were ten times the background value in the “Entenschnabel” area (CH4 < 10 nM), supporting the finding of enhanced seepage activity in this part of our study area. Furthermore, locations of flares were often related to acoustic blanking and high amplitude reflections in sediment profiler echograms, most prominently observed at location Berta. These hydroacoustic signatures are interpreted to result from increased free gas concentrations in the sediments. Electromagnetic seabed mapping depicts local sediment conductivity anomalies below a flare cluster at Berta, which can be explained by small amounts of free gas in the sediment. In our area of interest, ten abandoned well sites were included in our mapping campaign, but flare observations were spatially not related to these wells. Naturally seeping methane is presumably transported to the seafloor along sub-vertical faults, which have formed concurrently to the updoming salt. Due to the shallow water depths of 30 to 50 m in the study area, flares were observed to reach close to the sea surface and a slight oversaturation of surface waters with methane in the flare-rich northeastern part of the working area indicates that part of the released methane through seepage may contribute to the atmospheric inventory.

Deep structure of the Salair fold-nappe terrane (NW CAOB) according to magnetotelluric sounding

The Salair fold-nappe terrane (a.k.a. Salair orogen, Salair) is the northwestern part of the Altai-Sayan folded area of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. It is composed of Cambrian – Early Ordovician volcanic rocks and island-arc sedimentary deposits. In plan, Salair is a horseshoe-shaped structure with the northeast-facing convex side, which is formed by the outcrops of the Early Paleozoic folded basement. Its inner part is the Khmelev basin composed of Upper Devonian – Lower Carboniferous sandstones and siltstones. The Early Paleozoic volcanic rocks and sediments of Salair are overthrusted onto the Devonian-Permian sediments of the Kuznetsk basin. The Paleozoic thrusts, that were reactivated at the neotectonic stage, are observed in the modern relief as tectonic steps. Our study of the Salair deep structure was based on the data from two profiles of magnetotelluric sounding. These 175-km and 125-km long profiles go across the strike of the Salair structure and the western part of the Kuznetsk basin. Profile 1 detects a subhorizontal zone of increased conductivity (100–500 Ohm·m) at the depths of 8–15 km. At the eastern part of Profile 1, this zone gently continues upward, towards a shallow conducting zone that corresponds to the sediments of the Kuznetsk basin. Two high-resistance bodies (1000–7000 Ohm⋅m) are detected at the depths of 0–6 km in the middle of the section. They are separated by a subvertical conducting zone corresponding to the Kinterep thrust. The main features are the subhorizontal positions and the flattened forms of crustal conductivity anomalies. At the central part of Profile 2, there is a high-resistance block (above 150000 Ohm⋅m) over the entire depth range of the section, from the surface to the depths of about 20 km. In the eastern part of Profile 2, a shallow zone of increased conductivity corresponds to the sediments of the Kuznetsk basin. The subhorizontal mid-crust layer of increased conductivity, which is detected in the Salair crust, is typical of intracontinental orogens. The distribution pattern of electrical conductivity anomalies confirms the Salair thrust onto the Kuznetsk basin. The northern part of the Khmelev basin is characterized by high resistivity, which can be explained by abundant covered Late Permian granite massifs in that part of the Khmelev basin. The Kinterep thrust located in the northeastern part of the Khmelev basin is manifested in the deep geoelectric crust structure as a conducting zone, which can be considered as an evidence of the activity of this fault.

Geoelectrical inhomogeneities of the Crimean region as the seismicity and oil-gas potential zones

The three-dimensional geoelectrical model of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle of the Crimean region and adjacent territories has been built for the first time. It is based on the results of the Earth’s low-frequency electromagnetic field experimental observations, conducted in 2008—2013 by the Institutes of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The subvertical conductive zones or contacts of the different resistivity mainly in the near-surface layers coincide with the fault structures, most of which are confined to the boundaries between the different tectonic elements, such as the Scythian Plate and Mountain Crimea, North and South Kerch Zones and the other faults: Chongarskiy, Melitopol-Novotsarytsynskiy, Korsarsko-Feodosiyskiy, Gornostaevskiy and Kerch-Chkalivskiy. The Mykolayiv and West Crimean fault systems occur as large separate submeridional conductive zone. Deeper in the Earth’s crust and upper mantle, geoelectrical inhomogeneities are transformed into the subhorizontal structures (layers) and manifest themselves in regional anomalies. This fact may indicate the high permeability for deep fluids of contact zones during their formation. The deep sublatitudinal structure in the Earth’s crust is confidently traced, in the west it confirms and details the well-known Tarkhankut anomaly, and continues through the central Crimea to the northwestern part of the Kerch Peninsula. It is assumed that there is the strong sublatitudinal anomaly in the interior of the northwestern shelf of the Black Sea and in the northeastern part of the Kerch-Taman Depression at the crust — upper mantle boundary, it is contouring the Crimean Peninsula. The ultradeep fluid manifestation zones obtained according to seismotomography, the conductivity anomalies in the Earth’s crust and the upper mantle, increased heat flow and the spread of the earthquake hypocenters confirm the relationship between the Crimea seismicity and collision processes. It is shown the spatial coincidences of the hydrocarbon manifestations and the isolated conductivity anomalies, which are characterized by subvertical channels galvanically connected to sediments, or subvertical contact zones of different resistivity, which are observed not only in the Earth’s crust but also in the upper mantle layers (60—90, 110—140 km) and may cause the superdeep fluid inflow.