Physical Foundations of Recent Geodynamics

Abstract

The physical (phenomenological) foundations of recent geodynamics are considered. The definitions of geodynamics and recent geodynamics are substantiated based on ideas about the primacy of movements in the event of strains. The main tasks of the study are formulated, as are the scheme of formation of the recent geodynamic state of the subsoil. The issues of identifying the movements of the Earth’s surface are discussed and a formula is proposed for estimating the relative bending strain. It is shown that the observed strains of the Earthʼs surface, obtained by geodetic (satellite and ground) methods, are relative in nature and depend on the specific kinematic scheme of motion of individual elements (blocks) of the medium. The results of long-term repeated geodetic observations of recent vertical and horizontal movements of the Earthʼs surface in seismically active (Kopetdag, Kamchatka) and aseismic, platform regions (Pripyat depression) are presented. It is shown that the average annual rate of regional relative strains varies in the range from 10^–8 to 10^–9 year^–1. Zonal and local strains vary in the range from 10^–4 to 10^–6 year^–1. The “paradoxes” of large and small strains in recent geodynamics are formulated and their explanation is given on the basis of the equations of hereditary mechanics of solids and ideas about the parametric induction of strain processes in fault zones by small natural and technogenic impacts.