Crustal structure of the Caucasus from the Stepnoe-Bakuriani and Volgograd-Nakhichevan DSS profiles (reinterpretation of the primary data)

This work presents the results of reinterpretation of the deep seismic sounding (DSS) data for the Stepnoe-Bakuriani profile and the southern part of the Volgograd-Nakhichevan profile, carried out using new processing methods. Both the profiles cut the trend of the Greater Caucasus. They were acquired in the 1960s by multichannel continuous profiling, which provided high-quality records; however, only the travel-time curves for the main wave types have survived till now. The waves recorded on these profiles have a rather complex origin and their processing by the methods existing at that time was a challenge. At present, the modern computer technologies allowed us to invert the preserved travel-time curves for the velocity models of the Earth??s crust and the very tops of the mantle down to 80 km. It is shown that the crustal thickness increases under the Greater Caucasus up to 50?C60 km and this increase is not gradual, as implied in the previous reconstructions, but occurs through a system of deep dislocations. Traced by the oblique reflections and sharply contrasting seismic velocities, these dislocations extend into the crust. An extended, north-dipping boundary is revealed at a depth of 50?C80 km. The velocity model of the Greater Caucasian crust exhibits slightly decreased velocities compared to the surrounding platform regions. At the same time, the velocities sharply increase in the middle and even upper parts of the crust in the Kura depression.