UNDERGROUND RESEARCH FACILITY: FINDINGS FROM 12-YEAR GNSS OBSERVATIONS OF MODERN CRUST MOVEMENTS

The paper considers geodetic observations focused on modern earth crust movements and rates of its deformations carried out over the period from 2010 to 2022 in the siting area of an underground research facility (URF) in the Nizhnekanskiy rock mass and summarizes their findings. The study demonstrates that the developed GNSS observation method can be used to measure the velocities of modern horizontal movements with a high accuracy at the level of 2.4 mm. It also presents a structural-kinematic model of block movements and deformations, including the spatial layout of areas with maximum velocities of compressive and tensile deformations. The highest rates of horizontal movements were identified in the dynamic influence zone of the Muratov and Pravoberezhniy faults. In general, GNSS observations have shown that the region could be considered geodynamically stable, the maximum strain rates did not exceed 5·10^–7 per year. The study also evidences the cyclic nature of the evolving modern movements, which significantly complicates the adoption of a final conclusion on the geodynamic activity of the URF siting region.

Keywords: Nizhnekanskiy rock mass, underground research facility, high-level waste, global navigation satellite systems, geodynamics, modern movements of the Earth’s crust, deformations, radioactive waste.

Tatarinov V. N., Kaftan V. I., Manevich A. I., Shevchuk R. V., Zabrodin S. M. Underground research facility: findings from 12-year GNSS observations of modern crust movements. Radioactive Waste, 2022, no. 4 (21), pp. 58—69. DOI: 10 25283/2587-9707-2022-4-58-69. (In Russian).