Zones of recent activation of Ukraine

Abstract

Zones of recent activation (ZRA) in Ukraine have been studied by researchers of the Tectonosphere Department of the Institute of Geophysics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine for 25 years using an extensive set of geological and geophysical data. Interest in these objects is caused not only by the desire to investigate the mechanisms of deep processes, but also by the relationship with the zones of deposits of various minerals. The information is collected on late Pliocene-Quaternary surface movements, the distribution of oil and gas, areas of hydrochemical inversion, abnormally high formation pressures, the spread of young ore mineralization, anomalous helium isotopy of underground water and gases, regions of low velocities of longitudinal seismic waves in the earth's crust and upper horizons of the mantle, about abnormally thin crust, heat flow anomalies, increased conductivity of crust and mantle rocks, and mantle gravitational anomalies. 12 zones were allocated, occupying about half of the territory of Ukraine. One of them includes the Carpathian region with alpine folding, the rest are located on platforms of different ages ― from Precambrian to post-Cimmerian. During the mentioned period, the conducted studies have greatly increased the geothermal and geoelectric exploration of Ukraine, the data on helium isotopy have been substantially supplemented, and other geological and geophysical data have appeared. The methodology for interpreting experimental information has changed significantly. The need for summarizing the accumulated information and their analysis on the basis of a single methodical approach is obvious. The article attempts to solve one of these problems ― building a modern version of the boundaries of the zones of recent activation.