BARENTS-EURO/ARCTIC

Abstract

Continuous seismic monitoring of the Kola Peninsula and the Spitsbergen archipelago with adjacent water areas was carried out. Seismic events were recorded using digital equipment. Operational catalogs of earth-quakes were compiled. Great attention is paid to the improvement of systems for seismic and infrasonic monitoring. Seventeen seismic events with magnitudes from 0.8 to 2.8 which can be interpreted as tectonic earthquakes were recorded in the Baltic Shield area. The strongest earthquakes were recorded in the Arkhangelsk region (28.03.2013, M=2.9), in northern Norway (09.02.2013, MLрег=2.8), and in northern Finland (21.11.2013, MLрег=2.7). The maximum magnitude of the event in the Murmansk region was 2.3. The seismic activity in 2013 was the lowest over the last five-year period (from 2009 to 2013). The Spitsbergen archipelago was characterized by the smallest number of earthquakes in all ranges of magnitudes and by the smallest amount of released seismic energy for the five-year period from 2009 to 2013. The experimental research to monitor seismic and infrasonic emissions generated by glaciers was carried out using a seismic and infrasonic system installed before in the Spitsbergen archipelago. In particular, the seismic emission generated by the Isfjord glaciers has a strong seasonality. Activation is observed in the second half of summer and continues until the 20th of September. As a result of the studies, the possibility of remote monitoring of the destruction of glaciers by the seismic and infrasonic method was convincingly demonstrated