Temporal variations of gravity in the Aswan region of Egypt

The Kalabsha region at the northwest side of Lake Aswan has been a subject of seismological and geodetic investigations since 1981, after the 5.5 M earthquake on 14 November. The subsequent seismic activity was related to the effect of water-level oscillations in the Lake. Geodetic measurements provided indications of regional stress and of the local character of vertical movements. As crustal dynamics represents a potential hazard with respect to the size of the lake, other techniques have been applied to the monitoring system. Repeated gravity test measurements were already made in the late 1980s and in 1994, but only in 1997 was a new epoch of long-term investigation initiated. The measured data showed sufficient accuracy of approx. 5 μGal. Already the first difference of the two campaigns of the years 1997 and 2000 showed a few important features. First of all, the temporal non-tidal changes of gravity exceed the level of confidence significantly. The changes were compared with older available geodetic data, and it was concluded, that the gravity changes were not related directly to the vertical movements of the surface. On the contrary, a water loading effect may be expected on the eastern side of the network, especially in the Kalabsha local net. The development of the stress field is considered to be the main source of observed gravity changes. In both the Kalabsha and Seiyal nets the changes differ according to the relative positions of the particular measuring points with respect to the faults.