A Model for a New Peripheral Shallow Magma Chamber Beneath the Elbrus Volcanic Center

Crustal magmatic structures possess pronounced resonant properties, which enable these structures to generate secondary seismic waves at their eigen frequencies. Strain data acquired with the help of a 75-meter laser interferometer were used to identify resonant modes and to estimate the parameters of the magmatic structures beneath the Elbrus Volcanic Center. Such resonant modes are unique features for each magmatic feature, and determine the size and physico-mechanical properties of an identified internal structure. The present study contains an analysis of a local feature that has manifested itself as a compact area in the form of weak seismic pulses that have been recorded in the Elbrus area using small-aperture seismic instruments operated by the Geophysical Survey of the Russian Academy of Sciences (GS RAS) in 2011. The results of these studies based on seismic and strain observations, as well as on the results of microseismic sounding, have shown the existence of a new peripheral shallow magma chamber 2.5‒3 km across in size as part of the Elbrus Volcanic Center.