Studies of the Lithosphere and Asthenosphere of the Southern Poland – the joint seismic experiment of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the University of Silesia in Katowice.
The beneficiary of the OPUS 18 competition financed from the National Science Center was a consortium created by the Institute of Geophysics PAS and the University of Silesia in Katowice. The consortium submitted a research project entitled: Passive Seismic Studies of the Lithosphere and Asthenosphere of the Southern Poland (Carpathian area). The aim of the project is the determination of seismic structure and anisotropy of the lithosphere (Earth’s crust and part of the upper mantle) and lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) in the Carpathian-Pannonian area. The seismic research will be applied to determine the distribution of the velocities of the seismic P- and S-waves, which are important parameters not only to characterise elastic properties of rocks but also to provide indications about their chemical and mineral composition as well as their structure (micro-cracks, porosity etc.). Another geophysical property of rocks, important for studies of the lithospheric structure and evolution, is the anisotropy of the seismic wave velocity. The seismic anisotropy phenomenon is defined as a dependence of the velocity on the direction of their propagation. Variability of the parameters of seismic anisotropy can be caused due to differences in composition, variations of the tectonic movement directions or variations of the stress field in the studied area. It allows to distinguish differences between lithospheric blocks with different petrological composition and different tectonic evolution based on in situ measurements of seismic anisotropy.
The determination of the seismic anisotropy of the crust and upper mantle requires the use of methodology based on seismological observations of the seismic wave propagation in the Earth (recordings of the seismic waves from earthquakes). The data, used in the project, will be records of seismic waves from local, regional and teleseismic earthquakes registered by the seismic network which has already been built by the Institute of Geophysics PAS and the University of Silesia in Katowice (see figure). Project duration: 2020-2024, the main project manager is dr hab. Wojciech Czuba (IGF PAS) abd project manager representing the University is dr Maciej Mendecki.
