Donbas conductivity anomaly in the Karpinsky Swell

Abstract

Donbas Foldbelt (DF) and Karpinsky Swell (KS) are contiguous parts of a system of elongated sedimentary basins forming lineament from Poland through Pripyat Trough in Belarus, the Dnieper-Donets Basin (DDB) and DF in Ukraine, KS in Russia, across the Caspian Sea, through Mangyshlak in Turanian plate in Asia. In DF, the Mesozoic-Cenozoic sediments were raised, and subsequent erosion exposed the Carboniferous coal-bearing strata. In contrast to DF, the Paleozoic rocks in KS are covered by 1—3 km thick sediments of Mesozoic-Cenozoic age; productive structures of the earlier age cannot be confidently studied in KS by geological methods. So, geophysical methods are the promising approach for the KS deep structure studies. This work is devoted to electromagnetic (EM) studies of the electrical conductivity of rocks by the methods of magnetic variation profiling (MVP) and magnetotelluric sounding (MTS). Previously [Rokityansky, Tereshyn, 2022], we described the results of the EM research on DF in detail. MVP reveals the intense Donbas electrical Conductivity Anomaly (DCA) running along the main anticline of the folded Donbas. DCA parameters: maximum possible depth of the anomalous currents center h=18±2 km. Frequency response maximum Т0≈3600 s yields the total longitudinal conductance G=(8±2)∙108 S∙m. 70 MTS at periods 0.1—3000 s yield two conductive stripes, with the upper edge varying from 0.3 to 5 km. The stripes are parallel to the DCA axis and are considered as part of DCA. A very large value of G suggests that the anomalous body extends to some considerable depth. The DCA axis spatially coincides with an intense (up to 90 mW/m2) deep heat flow anomaly. Thus, the nature of the DCA lower part can be a partial melting. Theoretical estimates show that intense anomalous fields of geomagnetic variations arise over highly elongated conductors. Therefore, there is reason to expect that the anomaly continues eastward. We found two MTS profiles crossing the Karpinsky swell, and under both profiles strong conductivity anomalies are clearly seen. We re-interpreted original data and presented parameters of all 3 anomalies in an identical style. The main conclusion: the anomaly parameters on the three profiles are approximately the same, and one can assume with a high probability the existence of a single anomaly of electrical conductivity in the Donbas and Karpinsky Swell with a common length of more than 500 km and longitudinal conductance G≈8×108 S×m.