The Caucasus Mountain System is a part of the Alpian – Himalaya – Indonesia collision zone stretching across Eurasia. Even being continuously studied by means of geological and geophysical methods many problems remain unsolved, and the problem of the Caucasian deep structure with respect to the late Cenozoic volcanism and neotectonic is still in the center of scientific discussions.
This session is looking for contributions from various geophysical disciplines dedicated to studies of deep structure of the Caucasus, including seismological observations, gravity and magnetic surveys, measurements of heat flow, results of magneto-telluric sounding, GPS measurements etc., as well as paleomagnetic studies. Applied geophysical methods for mitigation of natural hazards of deep origin (earthquakes and volcanic eruptions) are also in the scope of this session. Specific attention will be concentrated on the magmatic feeding systems, sources of magmas, the origin of domains of partial melting caused by heat generation processes related to the Holocene volcanism in the Caucasus. Modern tectonics of the Caucasus and surrounding areas along with the primary stages of Caucasus’ evolution may be suggested for a separate subtopic within this session. Yet another possible subtopic could be the relationship between the deep structure and various economic deposits. Contributions featuring analysis of data acquired by means of ground-based, airborne and satellite geophysical methods are welcome. The results obtained by integration of geological, petrologic, geochemical, isotope and geophysical methods are of particular interest.