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WITHDRAWN Crustal Structure of the Caucasus

Description: 

WITHDRAWN The Greater Caucasus is a segment of the Alpine-Himalayan mountain belt that has undergone rapid uplift in the past 5 million years. The Caucasus is a unique place to understand the early stages of mountain building. Until recently, this region has had a lack of reliable digital data that has required extending existing geophysical monitoring systems. Relatively low-resolution seismic velocity models of this region show different lateral variability. The area has been largely unexplored regarding the detailed uppermost mantle and crustal seismic structure.

Seismic network resolution in the Caucasus countries has improved during the past several years. National networks deployed new seismic stations and established collaboration in exchanging online waveform data. Recently, the seismic networks in the region improved tremendously in the framework of the joint regional project ”The Uplift and Seismic Structure of the Greater Caucasus,” supported by the USA Department of Energy, IRIS PASSCAL and Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU). Scientific teams from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and the USA (Michigan State University, Oregon State University, and the University of Missouri) jointly deployed 53 seismic stations. Our seismic array has two components: (1) a grid of stations spanning the entire Caucasus and (2) two seismic transects consisting of stations spaced at distances of less than 10 km that cross the Greater Caucasus.

Our study addresses fundamental questions about the nature of continental deformation in this poorly understood region. Using data from new seismic stations in Georgia, we used receiver functions to estimate Moho depth and crustal properties. Teleseismic events between 30° and 90° with a magnitude greater than 5.5 were used for receiver functions at all stations to study lateral changes in the crustal thickness of the study area.

Session: Earth’s Structure From the Crust to the Core

Type: Oral

Date: 4/18/2023

Presentation Time: 08:15 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Tea Godoladze

Student Presenter: No

Invited Presentation: 

Authors