Water chemical composition as indicator of geodynamic activity

WATER’S GEOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION AS INDICATOR OF GEODYNAMIC ACTIVITY 

A.Kazarian, H. Kazarian IGN AN NAN

 

A detailed analysis of a long-term collection of hydro-geochemical data was carried out over a ten-year period. It revealed consistent iterations of signs of a process of earthquake preparation in this region. This preparation process has several distinct stages, which can be identified by noticeable changes in the geochemical composition of self-pouring well water. The earthquake preparation process is graphically visible and has a similar duration to the post-earthquake aftershock activity duration. The visualization of hydro-geochemical data from the pre- and post-earthquake periods for different (M> 6) earthquakes in this region shows a very similar pattern of behaviors and duration of behaviors for events of varying magnitudes and distances from the observation wells.

Changes in the main fluctuation trend of the geochemical data for helium (He) and a decrease in the standard deviation of the series for other main components appear as earthquake precursors (Na, K, HCO3, SO4, Cl, Ca, F). The detectable duration of a main shock's preparation process is approximately a year. The detailed examination of the data time series reveals a strong correlation between the overall geodynamic activity of the region and the hydrogeochemical composition of the observed wells.

The detailed analysis of earthquake activity in the region suggests a periodic nature of basic seismicity and its relationship with earthquake focal mechanisms. The obtained daily histograms for seismic activity in Armenia, Turkey, Greece, and Italy regions calculated by local time show cyclical activity patterns of 24 and 12 hours. This is consistent with variations in He and other important components in the well waters. The hypothesis and conclusion of this scientific research project are that in seismically active zones, the dynamics of hidden active tectonic processes can potentially be a priori diagnosed using this hydro-geochemical monitoring method.