Feasibility of using molecular-electronic seismometers in passive seismic prospecting: Deep structure of the Kaluga ring structure from microseismic sounding

Field experiments involving molecular-electronic seismometers, along with conventional pendulum geophones, were performed to study the deep structure of the upper crust (in the area of the Kaluga ring structure) by passive seismic methods. The microseismic sounding survey was carried out along a geophysical profile crossing the central part of the structure with simultaneous data acquisition by molecular-electronic and conventional seismometers at each measurement point. Experimental data on the propagation of Rayleigh waves along the curvilinear surface have been collected. The feasibility of using molecular-electronic seismometers for passive seismic studies has been confirmed by the results of comparative analysis of the vertical geophysical cross sections, which reveal upper crustal heterogeneities, and by the results of a series of laboratory tests.