Geofizicheskiy Zhurnal

S. Subbotin Institute of Geophysics of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine — 65 years

V.I. Starostenko — 2026-02-27

The publication highlights the main stages of development, the current state, and the key scientific achievements of the S. Subbotin Institute of Geophysics of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine on the occasion of its 65th anniversary. It is shown that, despite difficult socio-political conditions and the challenges of wartime, the Institute maintains its scientific potential and continues active fundamental and applied research in priority areas of modern geophysics.

We present a generalized overview of the staff composition, organizational structure, and scientific divisions of the Institute and outline the activities of leading scientific schools as well as new interdisciplinary research areas. Particular attention is paid to cooperation with government authorities, industrial organizations, and international partners, as well as participation in departmental, competitive, contractual, and grant-funded projects.

The most significant results of the past five years are summarized. In particular, these include studies of the deep structure of the Earth’s crust and mantle of Ukraine and adjacent regions, geodynamics, seismic hazard assessment, geothermics, magnetic and gravity fields, paleomagnetism, and development of new methods of geophysical research and instrumentation. The applied significance of these results is demonstrated for mineral resource prospecting, assessment of seismic and environmental risks, development of the oil and gas sector, and national security.

The material summarizes the contribution of the S. Subbotin Institute of Geophysics of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine to the development of

The Geophysical Journal Wins State Funding in the Ministry of Education and Science Competition

O.V. Legostaeva — 2026-02-27

The Geophysical Journal is among the winners of the competitive selection by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine for state financial support.

Magnetic model of the crystalline crust and heterogeneity of the lithosphere in the junction zones between the East European Craton and surrounding structures. Part I. The SW border

Inna Pashkevich — 2026-02-27

his article is the first attempt to establish a connection between magnetic heterogeneities in the crystalline crust in the Teisseyre-Tornquist Line region of the SW edge of the East European Craton and heterogeneities in the mantle. A 3D magnetic model of the crystalline crust was created using near-surface anomalous magnetic fields, velocity and structural sections from seismic profiles. The sources are attributed to two levels: local sources to the entire thickness of the upper crust, and deep ones to the middle and lower crust. Magnetization is assumed to be homogeneous, equilibrium, and constant to the depth of the Moho discontinuity or until the Curie temperature of magnetite is reached. This model parameterization led to the estimation of the minimum possible values of source magnetization. The total effect of crustal sources was matched to the observed field by trial and error with an error of no more than 30 nT. The relationship between crustal magnetic heterogeneities and mantle structure is based on the use of compiled diagrams of the main features of the crystalline crust, of the heterogeneity of the subcrustal mantle, and the transition layer from the upper to the middle mantle. The main feature of the 3D magnetic model is the presence of deep magnetic bodies accompanying Teisseyre-Tornquist Line, the Sörgenfrey-Tornquist Zone and the Thor-Tornquist Suture. The strip of magnetic bodies from NE is limited by the lineament L subparallel Teisseyre-Tornquist Line, which we have identified based on the magnetic field structure. It correlates with the Caledonian deformation front in Fennoscandia and the Rava-Ru’ska fault in Sarmatia. This allows us to link magnetic sources with the activation of the Teisseyre-Tornquist Line system and mafic intrusions. The magmatic genesis of these magnetic sources is also evidenced by their location above the overthrust of the subcrustal mantle of the East European Craton onto the mantle of the West European Platform. The overthrust was established based on seismotomography data. It correlates with the underthrust of the lower crust of the East European Craton under the crust of the West European Platform. It is assumed that these structures are connected with their synchronous movement from the NE to the SW, the formation of a stretchingzone, and the intrusions. The stretching regime along the Teisseyre-Tornquist Line may also be caused by SW subduction, which is confirmed by the identified high-speed inclined layers (slabs).The magmatic origin of magnetic sources does not exclude the formation of ‘secondary’ magnetic minerals due to the penetration of deep fluids into the crystalline crust. This process is facilitated by the increased permeability of the lithosphere, the ‘blurring’ of the main geodynamic boundary, and the disturbance inthe transition layerstructure of the upper mantle. The nature of deep magnetic sources associated with Teisseyre-Tornquist Line can thus be explained by both primary magnetic minerals of mafic rocks and secondary minerals brought up from the depths.

Deep Structure and Geodynamics of the Sarmatia–Fennoscandia Transition Zone

Oleg Gintov — 2026-02-27

The geological structure of the crust and mantle within the transition zone between the Sarmatia and Fennoscandia miniplates, which encompasses the central and southern parts of the Svecofennian orogen and the northwestern segment of the Ukrainian Shield was examined. The transition zone is extended south-eastward to include several northeast-striking fault zones of the Ukrainian Shield (from the Horyn to the Teteriv fault zones, inclusive). Crustal interpretations rely on recent publications by Swedish, Polish, Estonian, Lithuanian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian researchers [Bogdanova et al., 2015; Mężyk et al., 2021; Garetsky & Karataev, 2011; Shumlyanskyy et al., 2018]. The mantle down to 850–2500 km depth is investigated using a 3D velocity model for Eurasia developed at the S. I. Subbotin Institute of Geophysics National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine based on seismic tomography with a Taylor approximation to the eikonal and wave equations [Geyko, 2004].

It is showed that the Sarmatia–Fennoscandia transition formed in the Paleoproterozoic (2.1–1.75 Ga) through complex geodynamic processes evidenced by multiple subducted mantle slabs. A key process was the subduction of Fennoscandia beneath Sarmatia, recorded by a south-dipping slab from the Keitele microcontinent beneath the Bergslagen microcontinent and the Mid-Baltic Belt, and by an east- to southeast-dipping slab beneath Sarmatia from the Belarus–Podlasie Granulite Belt beneath the Osnitsk–Mikashevichy Igneous Belt and the area of the present-day Korosten Pluton.

Subduction occurred with interruptions, one of which (ca. 1.89–1.84 Ga) coincided with formation of the Baltic part of the Svecofennian orogen via additional subduction of opposite polarity (north and northeast), as confirmed by slabs from the Amberland microcontinent beneath the Bergslagen microcontinent and from the Central Finland Arc Complex beneath the Karelian craton.

Thus, reconciling upper-mantle seismotomographic observations with geological–geophysical constraints on crustal evolution provides compelling evidence for a plate-tectonic origin of the processes that led to the formation of the East European Craton.

Manifestations of recent activation in the southwest of Ukraine and the adjacent territories of Moldova and Romania. Pt. 1

V.V. Gordienko — 2026-02-27

The article concerns the endogenous regime of recent activation in SW Ukraine and adjacent territories of Moldova and Romania. Starting from a chronology of research on the topic, it proceeds to outline the current state of knowledge. There are different views of how the activation manifests and why the deep processes are so difficult to grasp. In the region, it is possible to determine the age and nature of geological phenomena identifiable with elements of recent activation. They are different for the platform part and the Carpathians. In the first case, young vertical movements with anomalously high velocities occurred during the Pliocene-Pleistocene. In the second case, a unique concentration of mantle-depth earthquakes (the Vrancea zone) forms a vertical focal structure. Accordingly, the research is divided into two parts. The heat flow on the platform part of the region and the margin of the Scythian plate has a background level of 50—55 mW/m2
and two anomalies of up to 80—85 mW/m2. The anomalies’ intensities and shapes correspond to the calculated parameters of the deep process of recent activation. The differences are due to the crustal intrusions of partially molten mantle rocks, approximately 2—5 million years old, beneath the anomalies. Their thermal models agree with the distribution of seismic wave velocities with sufficient accuracy. It is possible to diagnose even the individual episodes of intrusion of deep superheated material under the crust. Thermal models explain the significant surface uplift during activation, the formation of faults, and the seismicity. The high-conductivity objects also map well unto heat flow anomalies and lie at depths corresponding to intervals of significant superheating and partial melting.

Serafim Ivanovich Subbotin was a wonderful person, an outstanding geophysicist, and the founder of the Institute of Geophysics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, which bears his name

V.I. Starostenko — 2026-02-27

The publication is dedicated to the memory of the outstanding scientist and founder of the Institute of Geophysics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Serafim Ivanovich Subbotin, on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of his birth and the 50th anniversary of his death. The article briefly highlights the main stages of his life, his scientific and pedagogical activities, as well as his prominent role in organizing the first gravimetric research in Ukraine. In addition to his professional achievements, the author shares personal memories of the academician's high moral qualities, his sincerity, and his extraordinary contribution to the development of the national geophysical school.