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Active stress field and fault kinematics of the Greater Caucasus

Tibaldi, A.; Tsereteli, N.; Varazanashvili, O.; Babayev, G.; Barth, A. 1; Mumladze, T.; Bonali, F. L.; Russo, E.; Kadirov, F.; Yetirmishli, G.; Kazimova, S.
1 Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)

Abstract:

This work contributes to depict the current seismicity, fault kinematics, and state of stress in the Greater Caucasus (territories of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Russia). We merged and homogenized data from different earthquake catalogues, relocated ∼1000 seismic events, created a database of 366 selected focal mechanism solutions, 239 of which are new, and performed a formal stress inversion. Preferential alignments of crustal earthquake foci indicate that most seismic areas are located along the southern margin of the belt and in the north-eastern sector. This is consistent with the presence of dominant active WNW-ESE faults, parallel to the mountain range. In the entire Greater Caucasus, a dominant NNE-SSW-oriented greatest principal stress (σ1) controls the over-all occurrence of earthquakes of minor and major magnitude. Main earthquakes are characterized by a vertical least principal stress (σ3), corresponding to reverse kinematics. Reverse slip is more common along the southwestern and north-eastern foothills of the Greater Caucasus, although in these areas there are also scattered strike-slip events. This suggests the presence of local stress fields with horizontal σ1 and σ3. ... mehr


Originalveröffentlichung
DOI: 10.1016/j.jseaes.2019.104108
Scopus
Zitationen: 27
Web of Science
Zitationen: 14
Dimensions
Zitationen: 23
Zugehörige Institution(en) am KIT Geophysikalisches Institut (GPI)
KIT-Zentrum Klima und Umwelt (ZKU)
Publikationstyp Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Publikationsmonat/-jahr 11.2019
Sprache Englisch
Identifikator ISSN: 1367-9120
KITopen-ID: 1000099745
Erschienen in Journal of Asian earth sciences
Verlag Elsevier
Seiten Art.-Nr.: 104108
Vorab online veröffentlicht am 06.11.2019
Schlagwörter Caucasus, stress field, seismicity, active fault, focal mechanisms
Nachgewiesen in Dimensions
Web of Science
Scopus
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