Abstract—In this paper, we review the results of the deep electromagnetic soundings carried out on the Archaean blocks of the Kola Peninsula over the past 40–50 years, describe the main results of the Murman-2018 experiment, and present a critical analysis of the previous studies considering the new data. The first part of the paper addresses the results of the studies with the extremely low frequency (ELF) transmitter “Zevs” and a 40 MW MHD source “Khibiny,” the frequency soundings with a 29 kW ERS-67 car generator, and the DC resistivity soundings with vertical electrical sounding (VES) and magnetotelluric (MT) sounding setups. The review focuses on the controversial issues of the previous results for their subsequent critical analysis based on the data from the Murman-2018 experiment. The second part of the paper describes the technique, procedure, and results of the Murman-2018 experiment. The experiment included distance DC resistivity soundings (DS), controlled-source frequency soundings (Control Source AudioMagnetoTellurics, CSAMT), and audio magnetotelluric soundings (AMT) using natural variations of the Earth’s electromagnetic field. The DS and CSAMT soundings were carried out with axial and equatorial setup configurations using two mutually orthogonal current lines AB1 and AB2 with the lengths of 1.9 and 1.6 km, respectively. The key novelty of the DS measurements was the use of a linear step in changing the distance OO' between the source and receiver (2.5 and 5 km) in the range of spacings from 2.5 to 56 km. The linear step pf change of the OO' distance was used for detecting and correcting the effects of lateral and static distortions in the observation results. The DS measurements were performed along three rays directed towards West, North, and East relative to the current lines AB1 and AB2. The CSAMT measurements were performed at a distance up to 105 km from the source in combination with AMTS. Based on the results of the Murman-2018 experiment, a three-layer model of crustal structure with resistivity increasing in a gradient–stepwise manner down to a depth of 20–30 km was constructed. The resistivity in the upper layer gradually (in a gradient-wise manner) increases with depth from 103 Ω m on the ground to 104 Ω m at a depth of 1–2 km. The middle layer has a constant resistivity on the order of (1–2) × 104 Ω m in the depth interval from 1–2 to 10 km and is identified as a “compaction” zone. It is detected at spacings from 2–3 to 30–40 km. In this spacing interval, apparent resistivity on the ground sharply varies from 5 × 103 to 5 × 104 Ω m against the average background 2 × 104 Ω m. The sharp swings are interpreted as the profiling effect and attributed to the influence of the fractured zones and faults intersected by the sounding path. According to the geological estimates, the faults are steeply dipping near the surface and gently dipping at depth. Their overall influence “stabilizes” “flattens” the resistivity of the middle layer at a level of 2 × 104 Ω m and leads to the formation of effect of intermediate conductive layer having a dilatancy-diffusion origin (DD-layer) in the depth interval from 3–5 to 7–10 km (at the base of the second layer) with a longitudinal conductivity on the order of 1 S m and resistivity within 5 × 103 to 104 Ω m. The third (bottom) layer manifests itself by a sharp stepwise increase in electrical resistivity up to 105–106 Ω m and higher. The top surface of this layer is located at a depth of 10–15 km and is conditionally interpreted as an “impenetrability boundary” for direct current. This boundary marks the Brittle–Ductile Transition Zone (BDT) of the rocks. A critical analysis of the previous results in the light of the new data obtained in the Murman-2018 experiment is conducted in the Discussion section.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank V.V. Kolesnikov for his helping in topographic correlation of the data. We are particularly grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their highly professional comments.
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The work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research under project no. 18-05-00528 and carried out in partial fulfillment of the state task of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation within projects 0226-2019-0052 (Geological Institute of the Kola Science Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences) and 0226-2019-0067 (Northern Energetics Research Centre of the Kola Science Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences).
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Zhamaletdinov, A.A., Velikhov, E.P., Shevtsov, A.N. et al. Deep Electrical Conductivity of the Archaean Blocks of Kola Peninsula in the Light of the Results of Murman-2018 Experiment: A Review. Izv., Phys. Solid Earth 57, 61–83 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1069351321010110
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1069351321010110