Work

North Caucasus Underground Geophysical Observatory: Instrumentation and Observation Results

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: A full-scale geophysical observatory in the North Caucasus, which was established to study volcanic activity in the Elbrus area, has been functioning for more than 10 years. Results of experimental studies performed at the observatory, located in the deep tunnel, are presented. Special attention is paid to the stability of metrologically significant parameters of precise information-measuring systems, taking into account different nature noises. Technical characteristics of installed geophysical instruments are given, and the principles of their operation are described. Examples of instrumental observations are also presented; for example, tidal deformations reflecting structural features of the geological environment in the area of the Elbrus volcanic edifice and associated with the presence of magmatic structures were investigated. It was shown that diurnal and semidiurnal harmonics observed in the microvariations of temperature can be caused, among other things, by the influence of tidal effects on the convective component of heat–mass transfer.

Source: Geosciences

DOI: 10.3390/geosciences15020042