Geoelectric Model of the Northwestern Caucasus: Three-Dimensional Inversion

Abstract

Interpretation of magnetotelluric observations made within the Northwestern Caucasus, by means of one-dimensional, two-dimensional inversion and three-dimensional mathematical modeling programs, has helped build testing and starting geoelectric models that are necessary to test and adapt the program of three-dimensional inversion of the impedance tensor components. The performed three-dimensional inversion of the experimental magnetotelluric data has significantly changed the parameters of conducting blocks within the folded structures of the region, identified at the previous stages of MT data interpretation. In the resulting three-dimensional geoelectric model, the position of low-resistance blocks correlates with: suture zones, deep faults, mud volcanoes, and domains characterized by an increased absorption of transverse and longitudinal seismic waves. The electrical resistivity of the most low-resistance anomalies is explained by the degree of their saturation with the water fraction of the fluid.