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The Tien-Shan and the neighboring Pamir region are two of the largest mountain belts in the world. Their deformation is dominated by intermontane basins bounded by active thrust and reverse faulting. The Tien-Shan mountain belt is characterized by a very high rate of seismicity along its margins as well as within the Tien-Shan interior. The study area of the here presented thesis, the western part of the Tien-Shan region, is currently seismically active with small and moderate sized earthquakes. However, at the end of the 19th beginning of the 20th century, this region was struck by a remarkable series of large magnitude (M>7) earthquakes, two of them reached magnitude 8.
Those large earthquakes occurred prior to the installation of the global digital seismic network and therefore were recorded only by analog seismic instruments. The processing of the analog data brings several difficulties, for example, not always the true parameters of the recording system are known. Another complicated task is the digitization of those records - a very time-consuming and delicate part. Therefore a special set of techniques is developed and modern methods are adapted for the digitized instrumental data analysis.
The main goal of the presented thesis is to evaluate the impact of large magnitude M≥7.0 earthquakes, which occurred at the turn of 19th to 20th century in the Tien-Shan region, on the overall regional tectonics. A further objective is to investigate the accuracy of previously estimated source parameters for those earthquakes, which were mainly based on macroseismic observations, and re-estimate them based on the instrumental data. An additional aim of this study is to develop the tools and methods for faster and more productive usage of analog seismic data in modern seismology.
In this thesis, the ten strongest and most interesting historical earthquakes in Tien-Shan region are analyzed. The methods and tool for digitizing and processing the analog seismic data are presented. The source parameters of the two major M≥8.0 earthquakes in the Northern Tien-Shan are re-estimated in individual case studies. Those studies are published as peer-reviewed scientific articles in reputed journals. Additionally, the Sarez-Pamir earthquake and its connection with one of the largest landslides in the world, Usoy landslide, is investigated by seismic modeling. These results are also published as a research paper.
With the developed techniques, the source parameters of seven more major earthquakes in the region are determined and their impact on the regional tectonics was investigated. The large magnitudes of those earthquakes are confirmed by instrumental data. The focal mechanism of these earthquakes were determined providing evidence for responsible faults or fault systems.
Probing the core-mantle boundary beneath Europe and Western Eurasia: A detailed study using PcP
(2015)
We use PcP (the core reflected P phase) recordings of deep earthquakes and nuclear explosions from the Grafenberg (Germany) and NORSAR (Norway) arrays to investigate the core-mantle boundary region beneath Europe and western Eurasia. We find evidence for a previously unknown ultra-low velocity zone 600 km south-east of Moscow, located at the edge of a middle-size low shear- velocity region imaged in seismic tomography that is located beneath the Volga river region. The observed amplitude variations of PcP can be modelled by velocity reductions of P and S-waves of -5% and -15%, respectively, with a density increase of +15%. Travel time delays of pre-and postcursors are indicating a thickness of about 13 km for this ultra-low velocity region (ULVZ). However, our modelling also reveals highly ambiguous amplitude variations of PcP and a reflection off the top of the anomaly for various ULVZs and topography models. Accordingly, large velocity contrasts of up to -10% in V-P and -20% in Vs cannot be excluded. In general, the whole Volga river region shows a complex pattern of PcP amplitudes caused most likely by CMB undulations. Further PcP probes beneath Paris, Kiev and northern Italy indicate likely normal CMB conditions, whereas the samples below Finland and the Hungary-Slovakia border yield strongly amplified PcP signals suggesting strong CMB topography effects.
We evaluate the amplitude behaviour of PcP as a function of distance and several ULVZ models using the 1D reflectivity and the 2D Gauss beam method. The influence of the velocity and density perturbations is analysed as well as the anomaly thickness, the dominant period of the source wavelet and interface topographies. Strong variation of the PcP amplitude are obtained as a function of distance and of the impedance contrast. We also consider two types of topographies: undulations atop the CMB in the presence of flat ULVZs and vice versa. Where a broad range of CMB topography dimensions lead to large PcP amplitude variations, only large ULVZ undulations generate significant amplitude scattering. Consequently, this indicates that topography effects of anomalies may mask the true medium parameters as well as the ULVZ thickness. Moreover, there might be a possibility of misinterpreting the precursor as PcP, in particular for thin ULVZs. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.