Аннотация:ESC2018-S22-686
PROBLEM OF A LEVEL OF RECENT LONG-TERM
SEISMICITY OF FENNOSCANDIA
Rodkin Mikhail* (1), Shvarev Sergei (1)
(1)RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, Russia
* rodkin@mitp.ru
A set of data on the present, historical and
prehistorical seismic activity of Fennoscandia is
considered. An evident disagreement takes place
between the low level of instrumental seismicity
(in particular, the estimation of the maximum
possible magnitude of an earthquake using the
methods of the theory of extreme values) and
historical and, especially, paleoseismic data.
Paleoseismicity appears to be unexpectedly high
that is supported by data from both western
Fennoscandia (Norway, Sweden, Finland) and its
Russian part (Kola Peninsula and Karelia). Within
the latter a dozen of active fault zones mainly of
NW direction had been delineated. The
assumption of a close relationship between strong
paleoseismicity and the process of deglaciation
seems to be quite natural according to most traces
of strong seismic events found in the Early
Holocene. But there are also some data about
strong earthquakes which had occur much later.
Evidences of strong seismogenic impacts were
found from the numerous presumably
seismogenic displacements of the rock blocks, the
tectonic inclination of the Middle Holocene
terrace and seismogenic ruptures found in soft
deposits in the valley of the river Vuoksa at the
Karelian Isthmus and from the soft-sediment
deformations of the bottom deposits of similar
age of the Lake Imatra at the Kola Peninsula.
Similar features were found at some other places.
The possible maximum level of a current
seismicity is not clear however. It is not clear also,
whether the strong regional paleoseismicity is
associated with the deglaciation only, or platetectonic
factors such as a push from the midAtlantic
ridge also has a significant role.
Methodologically, the first arising question
concerns the reliability of data on paleoseismic
dislocations; to what extent they can be caused by
other impacts, such as glacial deformations,
weathering, kriogenic processes, etc. In cource of
verification of data on paleoseismicity, a
comparison of results obtained at several keysites
of active development of rock deformations
in the Russian sector of Fennoscandia with similar
observations performed in focal regions of a few
recent strong earthquakes was carried out; the
comparison testifies for seismogenic nature of
majority of the examined dislocations. Thus, the
evidence on the high level of paleoseismicity of
Fennoscandia looks convincing enough. Note
however, that post-glacial seismogenic faults with
lengths and amplitudes of discolations similar to
those found at the West Fennoscandia were not
found yet in the Russian sector of the
Fennoscandia. We suggest that this failing may be
connected with a location of a majority of linear
active tectonic structures at the Eastern part of
Fennoscandia in the lowlands with thick
postglacial sedimentary cover or under water of
large basins such as Barents and White seas,
Onega and Ladoga lakes. The signs of Holocene
tectonic activity of these structures can be seen,
but their full analysis is not performed yet. Thus, a
high level of paleoseismic activity appears to be
confirmed both for the eastern and western parts
of the shield. The second problem is whether this
seismicity is almost exclusively associated with the
process of deglaciation, or a significant
contribution is provided by a push from the MidAtlantic
Ridge also. We present arguments “pro”
and “contra” both these suggestions but can not
yet offer an answer to this question. Having in
mind the problem of seismic assessment it seems
suitable to note that according to
recommendations of the International Atomic
Energy Agency the paleoseismic data should be
taken into account in a seismic risk assessment in
the case of Nuclear Power Plants and other similar
objects. We are not sure however that this would
be correct for the case of Fennoscandia because
the seismic level can decrease here very
essentially due to strong decrease in a rate of
postglacial deformations. Determination of
veritable current level of seismicity could be done
only from the finding of mechanism of regional
seismicity. The work was supported by the Russian
Foundation for Basic Research (project no. 17-05-
00351, and partly in frames of the IG RAS research
topic 0148-2014-00016 and of the IPE RAS
research topic 0144-2014-0097).