Time Distribution of Strong Seismic Events in the Fore-Sudetic Monocline in Context of Signals Registered by Water-Tube Gauges in Książ Geodynamic Laboratory

Sensors (Basel). 2021 Feb 25;21(5):1603. doi: 10.3390/s21051603.

Abstract

Changes in the stress field in Świebodzice Depression (ŚU) unit area are the reason of complex kinematics of the rock blocks consisting of rotations and horizontal/vertical displacements. The measurement system of the Geodynamic Laboratory in Książ, associated with rock blocks which are separated by faults, is a natural detector of tectonic activity. Installed in laboratory long water-tube gauges allowing to determine the functions of tectonic activity-TAF, and their derivatives. A comparison of the TAF with the seismic activity of the Fore-Sudetic Monocline showed that the strong seismic shocks (magnitude ≥3.6) occur in the Monocline only during defined and repeatable phases of the kinematic activity of the ŚU. Observed concordance proves the thesis of the existence of a large-scale, and largely homogeneous field of tectonic forces which, at the same time, cover the ŚU and the Fore-Sudetic Monocline units. The results of comparison between seismic events temporal distribution and phases of tectonic activity of the ŚU orogen indicate existence of the time relation between function of derivative of the tectonic activity (TAF) and seismic events.

Keywords: Fore-Sudetic Monocline; geodynamics; seismic activity; tectonic activity; water-tube tiltmeters; Świebodzice Depression.