The article presents the results of integrated geological and geophysical research works dealt with detailed magnetotelluric (MT) sounding and the study of the morphology and spatial position of the sedimentary cover and basement structures along the key transect of the Middle Tien Shan crossing the Naryn and Atbashi depressions. The data on the distribution of deep electrical conductivity of the crust and upper mantle were compared with the seismic profiling data. The compilation of the results of structural-geological and geophysical studies provided the opportunity to draw 2D upper-crust geological structure, consistent with the structure of electrical conductivity of the crust to depths of about 10 km. The detailed geological cross-sections and the structural and geological data allow us to characterize the deformations of the Cenozoic sedimentary complex and Paleozoic basement surface associated with the alpine activation of the key segment of the Tien Shan. It is shown that the Cenozoic structural parageneses emerged during a relatively short-term phase of deformation and orogeny under conditions of horizontal compression and transpression, which did not manifest themselves during sagging that occurred previously.

A generalization has been obtained based on the data for deep seismic studies on longitudinal DSS profiles (explosion seismology) and seismological evidence found for local and distant earthquakes (earthquake seismology) in the Fennoscandian Shield over the past 40 years. This provided an opportunity to obtaine quantitative data on the horizontal and vertical heterogeneities of the lithosphere. 3D seismological models were first constructed for the individual parts of the Fennoscandian Shield which show that the crystalline crust structure acquires a block hierarchy pattern, with no persistent seismic boundaries found within the entire shield. The upper crust is characterized by the local occurrence of both waveguides and high-velocity zones correlated with geological bodies. The structural plans of the velocity isolines of various deep sections were found to be inconsistent. It has been proved that major geotectonic provinces have a thick crust and that the Early Proterozoic volcanogenic belts are characterized by elevated velocities and a large crustal thickness. In the upper mantle of the Fennoscandian Shield there were identified the layers with anomalously high velocities. No robust evidence was found for a waveguide, which is sometimes related to the concept of the lithosphere.

The Kyushu Island, as well as whole Japanese archipelago, is equipped with dense GPS network (GEONET). It allows us to track the movements and deformations of the earth’s surface over long-term time intervals. In this study, based on daily determinations of the coordinates of GPS stations, analysis has been made on long-term trends in the accumulation of movements and deformations in large areas of the Kyushu Island before the series of April 14–16, 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes to identify deformation precursors and locked, immobile fault zones. The study of the seismic deformation process was performed using the data from 70 continuous permanent GPS stations for the period 2009–2016.

The movement and deformation features found characterize the kinematics of the axial zone of the southwestern part of the island arc of the Japanese archipelago. The combination of coseismic compression and uplift in the center of the formed triad of deformation extrema and the consistency between subsidence and extensions at its edges demonstrate the mechanism of growth of the central region of the island arc under compression and the role of volcanism. Of particular interest in the context of the development of movements and deformations during the generation of the Kumamoto earthquakes is the behavior of the minimum displacement moduli of the GNSS sites. Analysis of their kinematics shows the formation of a zone of minimum displacements, in which subsequent strong seismic events were localized. It is shown that rather dense and extensive GNSS networks allow observing and studying the seismic-deformation process at the stages of seismic generation, discharge and relaxation, thereby providing an empirical basis for the development of models for predicting large seismic events.

The paper presents the results obtained during the study of seismicity of the Kazakh shield based on the data from seismic stations of the Institute of Geophysical Researches of Kazakhstan which are a part of the international monitoring systems. Emphasis has been placed on seismic activation in 2016–2018 in the middle part of the Central Kazakhstan arch, previously considered aseismic. The earthquake focal mechanisms determined for 40 seismic events recorded in the investigated area are based on the displacement directions of the first arriving P waves.

On the basis of the analysis of the earthquake focal mechanism data set, an assessment has been made of the present-day stress-strain state of the Earth’s crust of the low-seismicity Kazakh shield. It is shown that a system of stresses in the investigated area is characterized by conditions for near-horizontal compression whose direction is consistent with the direction of movement of the Alpine geomorphostructures. It has been found that the earthquake sources in the investigated area are dominated by reverse faults and reverse-slip faults which correspond structurally to the northeast-striking and submeridional tectonic faults, thus testifying to present-day seismic activation of the northeastern thrusts.

This study allowed for concluding that the seismic events considered are human-induced, i.e. technogenic-tectonic, earthquakes. A long-term technogenic impact reducing the strength of rocks in fault zones can be a cause of critical stress drop in earthquake sources located in the Kazakh shield. The data on the character of motions and stresses in the earthquake sources influencing on shaking intensity will be used in combination with other methods for the assessment of natural and technogenic hazards related to geodynamic processes.

This paper presents quantitative estimates of the strain rates for the southern part of the Siberian craton derived from GPS data. The obtained results confirmed the theoretical concept of low strain rates (10^–9×year^–1) in the intra-platform areas. The paper is based on raw measurement data from open sources, previously reported displacement velocities, and measurement data from the Laboratory of Recent Geodynamics of the Institute of the Earth's Crust SB RAS. It is shown that of the 5 mentioned EFT-CORS stations, the BRTK site (Bratsk city) cannot be used to estimate the longterm velocity of the Siberian craton.

The paper presents new petrographic and geochemical data from volcanic and sedimentary rocks and first U-Pb ages of detrital zircons from sandstones of the Itmurundy zone of central Kazakhstan. The volcanic rocks are aphyric and porphyric basalts, andesibasalt and andesite. The major element composition of tuff and sandstone are close to that of andesite. The poorly sorted greenish grey sandstones carry numerous fragments of volcanic and sedimentary rocks suggesting its greywacke nature which is probably due to. The greywacke probably formed by the destruction of undissected arc. The distribution of U-Pb ages of detrital zircons spanning 505 to 432 Ma has unimodal character peaked at 445 Ma suggesting formation of the sandstones by the destruction and subsequent transportation of clastic material from a late Ordovician intra-oceanic arc. In geochemical diagrams, the tuffs and sandstone plot close to the volcanic rocks. All chondrite-normalized REE spectra show enrichment in LREE (La_N=38–367, La/Yb_N=4.0–16.9, La/Sm_N=2.1–3.3) and moderate to weakly differentiated HREE (Gd/Yb_N=1.4–4.0). However, the level of REE concentrations in the volcanic rocks, in particular, in basalts, is significantly higher than that in the sandstone and andesite. The primitive mantle normalized trace-element diagrams show peaks at Nb (Nb/La_pm=0.9–1.6, Nb/Th_pm=0.8–1.6) in most basaltoids, but troughs at Nb for andesite, tuff and sandstone (Nb/La_pm=0.25–0.31, Nb/Th_pm=0.17). The previous and new geochronological, petrographic and geochemical data show that the volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Itmurundy zone formed in Ordovician time in an intra-plate oceanic setting and in a supra-subduction setting at a Pacific-type convergent margin.

This paper reports the results of petrogeochemical studies of the Kurmansky gabbro-trondhjemite massif (eastern slope of the Middle Urals), lying in the western part of the large Reftinsky allochthonous block within the accretion East Uralian megazone. The relevance of this study is determined by the uncertainty in geodynamic setting and formation conditions of the rock massif and its role in the evolution of the Ural Mobile belt. We specified the countours of the massif. It is shown that the rocks were resulted from spatiotemporal convergence of partial melting in the mantle and lower crust at the island-arc stage of the Ural Mobile belt evolution. Partial melting of mantle peridotite, under the influence of an aqueous fluid rising from the subduction zone, initiated the occurrence of basite melts. The separation of the melt and its subsequent evolution to the compositions of gabbrodiorite and diorite took place at P_tot=10 kbar. Trondhjemites were formed as a result of partial melting of amphibolites at P_tot≥8 kbar, P_H2O=0.1–0.2 kbars. The crystallization of trondhjemites in the crust was accompanied by the wollastonite skarns on contact with carbonate rock and xenoliths culminated at mesoabyssal level, P_tot=P_H2O=1 kbar. The comparison between the composition of Kurmansky gabbro-trondhjemite massif and the island-arc- and collision-related magmatic suites in the region allowed us to assume that the Kurmansky massif belongs to the independent Early Devonian (?) gabbro-trondhjemite complex of island arc origin. The rock metamorphism conditions were evaluated, with the transformations supposedly related to the accretion of early island arc complexes at the Murzinsky-Aduysky microcontinent, which took place in the Devonian.

It is the first time that there have been Sm-Nd isotopic geochemical studies conducted into the metamorphic rocks of the Gudjal block considered as a basement protrusion of the Bureya continental massif. It has been found that biotite and garnet-amphibole schists of the Gudjal formation are characterized by strongly negative ε_Nd(0)=–15.7…–17.2 values and Paleoproterozoic values of Nd model age of t_Nd(DM)=2.4–2.1 Ga. Similar isotopic parameters are also typical of gneissic biotite granodiorites: ε_Nd(0)=–18.7, t_Nd(DM)=1.8 Ga. Out of orthorocks of the Gudjal block studied, the Neoproterozoic orthogneisses and orthoamphibolites of the Tulovchikha formation and the Neoproterozoic gneiss-granites of the Nyatyngran complex of the Paleoproterozoic model age may be considered as a probable substrate for melts.

The paper presents the results of the detailed structural analysis and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of the deformations in the Golets Vysochaishii deposit area. The geological and structural studies showed the folded-deformation sequence from large lying folds through axial-plane cleavage formation and cleavage to quartz-filled fractures. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of syntectonic sericite yielded the ages of two Hercynian tectonic impulses – 340 and 320 Ma. This stage is characterized by the earlier-known successive complication of the Early Paleozoic fold-nappe structure of the area. Analysis has been made on four samples taken from different sites and characterized by different sets of deformational structures. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of 340 Ma reflects the formation of small-size folds as a result of interlayer sliding and sliding along the cleavage axial planes. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of 320 Ma reflects the formation of discretely manifested crenulation cleavage and low-Au, low-sulfidation quartz veins oriented obliquely to the elements of bedding and axial-plane cleavage.

The descripton has been provided for the cross-section (12 km) of a thick sediment unit on the left bank of the Vitim River, opposite the Nizhny Orlov and Dannaya rivers. This place is related to the Karalon-Mamakan area of the Baikal-Muya belt of the Baikal folded area. The changes have been made to the names formally assigned to the following stratigraphic subdivisions: Sulban series was renamed Chayangra formation, and Kelyan subseries was renamed Karalon formation. Evidence has been found for the complex folded and faulted structure and litological-facial characteristics of the cross-section. Some evidence has been provided to confirm that the Karalon formation is younger than the Chayangra formation. When this result is comapared to the well-studied subdivisions of the northern areas of the region, it is apparent that the Karalon formation may well correlate with the Dalnetaiga horizon of the Lower Vendian, the Chayangra formation – with the Ballaganakh series of the Late Riphean, and its layers at the bottom are similar in composition to the the Medvezhevsk horizon.

An algorithm for calculating stress values proposed here is based on the results of reconstruction performed by L.A. Sim’s structural-geomorphological method for platform areas. This method makes it possible to determine the orientation of the axes of principal stresses for the shear zones from the lineament analysis of satellite images and photographs and Gzovsky’s palette, and to identify the lineaments characterizing the basement active faults which are covered by sediments. It is proposed that the dataset obtained will be subjected to the algorithm of the second-stage method of Cataclastic Analysis of faulting displacements, in which the Mohr diagram is used to calculate the stress values normalized for the cohesion strength of the massif. The further determination of the cohesion strength and absolute stress values is based on the data for lithostatic pressure and fluid pressure in the fracture-pore space of the massif (either measured or prescriptive). The stress calculation algorithm was tested on a small area (60 square km of satellite imagery) near the territorial district of Seversk – the southern border of the West Siberian Platform. The calculations have shown that with the fluid pressure variations ranging from hydrostatic values to twice higher than those, the cohesion strength of a rock mass at the base of the sedimentary cover (500 m depth) is in the range of 41.0 to 16.8 bar, and the level of maximum tangential stresses lies in the range of 75 to 31 bar.