Abstract

The Caucasus is a region of continental collision between Eurasia and Arabia and one of the Earth’s most seismically active and rapidly deformed continental regions. The wide range of deformation processes occurring in this relatively limited region makes the Caucasus as a whole and its central parts in particular a unique test area, the study of which can improve our understanding of the complexities of the stress–strain state, as well as the associated seismicity. During the instrumental period of observations, many strong earthquakes have been recorded here, e.g., the August 4, 1974 Bezhta earthquake (M_b = 5.4), the 1978 earthquake with a magnitude of 5.7, the February 23, 1981 Gavaz earthquake (M_b = 5), the October 12, 1992 Barisakho earthquake (M_b = 6.1), and the July 5, 2012 Zaqatala (M_b = 5.7). We have constructed the mechanisms of strong earthquakes and compared the results with the tectonic conditions of the studied region. Based on a morphostructural analysis of the modern relief of the central and eastern Greater Caucasus, a diagram of its morphostructural blocks has been compiled. The average earthquake mechanisms were constructed for the distinguished blocks, the prevailing types of slip in earthquake sources in each selected block were identified, and the fault kinematics were reconstructed. The solution was based on generally accepted tectonophysical theoretical views, with the wide application of modern structural–geomorphological methods, modern GIS technologies, and morphological analysis of the modern relief of this region. The modern tectonic stress field was reconstructed based on seismological data on earthquakes recorded during the entire instrumental period (1971–2019).

中文翻译：

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高加索中部地壳的应力-应变状态

摘要

高加索地区是欧亚大陆和阿拉伯半岛之间发生大陆碰撞的区域，也是地球上地震活动最活跃，变形最快的大陆区域之一。在这个相对有限的区域中发生的各种变形过程使高加索作为一个整体，尤其是其中心部分成为一个独特的测试区域，对它的研究可以增进我们对应力-应变状态的复杂性以及相关的地震活动。在仪器观测期间，这里记录了许多强地震，例如1974年8月4日贝扎塔地震（M _b  = 5.4），1978年5.7级地震，1981年2月23日加瓦兹地震（M _b  = 5），1992年10月12日的Barisakho地震（M _b  = 6.1），以及2012年7月5日的扎卡塔拉（M _b = 5.7）。我们构造了强地震的机制，并将结果与​​研究区域的构造条件进行了比较。在对大高加索中部和东部的现代地貌进行形态结构分析的基础上，编制了其形态结构块图。构建了各块地块的平均地震机制，确定了每个选定块体中震源的主要滑移类型，并重建了断层运动学。该解决方案基于公认的构造物理理论观点，并广泛应用了现代结构地貌方法，现代GIS技术以及对该地区现代地貌的形态分析。