Structural-Density Model of the Earth’s Crust within the Sakhalin Western Shelf and Its Geological Interpretation

Abstract

Structural-density modeling of the Earth’s crust carried out using a deep seismic sounding profile previously tested along the western shelf of Sakhalin Island offered a clearer view of the layered block structure of the main tectonic faults and their system within the crust of the region, which accumulate a large number of strong crustal earthquakes. The density structures of the resulting model were compared with geological data on the adjacent territory of Sakhalin Island. Our structural-density model made it possible to separate volcanic blocks and blocks of basified sialic crust and to trace the submarine prolongation of the largest geological complexes of the western margin of Sakhalin Island to the shelf. A spatial correlation between seismic events and some tectonic faults is observed.