Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend S.Babayeva / The Caucasus reagion and South Caspian Sea are one of the most active and dangerous zones of the world with their geology hazards. According to the information provided by the Press-Service of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, these zones are always under powerful geology pressure and by this reason geology deformation processes are intensive here. This case appears on the earth's surface with earthquakes, eruptions of mud volcanoes, landslides and etc. Deformation causes collapse of roads, areas, pipelines and other disturbances, too.
Geodynamic processes and deformations have been researching by scientists of Caucasus and European and American continents since many years ego. The largest international scientific project on these researches was set in start last year September. That is called as "Deciphering the dynamics of continental deformation in the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone" and is supported by the US National Science Foundation. The directors of the project that was planned for 2006-2010 are Dr. Robert Reilinger of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Dr. Fakhraddin Kadirov, the head of "Geotectonic and geodynamic" Department of Geology Institute at The Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (GIA ANAS).
Dr. F.Kadirov says that, the researches will be taken on the deformation in the Arabia-Eurasia continental collision zone. The future works were planned in two stages. The first stage consists understanding better the character of deformation along the west side of the Caspian Sea. For the second stage, scientists planned obtaining more precise estimates of the character of strain accumulation across the Lesser Caucasus and Kora Depression to make more precise estimates of earthquake hazards.
Researchers will put in practice some measures in connection of the project. They are to establish a continuous GPS tracking station at the GIA facility in Baku in summer this year, and to set up new survey sites, particularly along the west coast of the Caspian Sea, and to integrate other geological and geophysical data with the GPS results, and to develop improved models for the active deformation in the Arabia-Eurasia continental collision zone.
The third participant country is Turkmenistan. Specifically, scientists are planning to install 2 GPS stations in Turkmenistan east of the southern Caspian Sea, and a number of survey sites across the Kopet Dag Mountain range.
Academic Akif Alizadeh, director of the GIA says scientists of the USA and Azerbaijan have been realizing many projects about deformation in the Caucasus region since many years ago. Our researchers represented Azerbaijan as executor part in those projects. But now our country participates as a shareleader country with the USA. Moreover, this project is too urgent for security of oil and gas terminals, pipelines in the Caucasus region and the Caspian Sea.