Strain and stress modelling of the earth's crust of the GPS polygon of the Ignalina nuclear power plant

Abstract

The study is aimed at the unravelling the current tectonic activity of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant area. The GPS geodynamic polygon was established in 1998 to measure vertical and horizontal movements of the Earth's crust. The polygon consists of 10 sites embedded 2.5 m in the soil. The network was adjusted to the tectonic structure of the area. Two measurement campaigns were held in September 1998 and 1999. The average quadratic errors of the coordinates of do not exceed 1.2 mm. The collected data were applied for the modelling of the strain and stress patterns in the Earth's using the finite element approach. They show good correlation with the tectonic structure of die area that imply rather intense geodynamic processes in proximity to Ignalina NPP. It is stated that this are is currently tectonically active. This conclusion is in concert to results obtained from the high-precision levelling network of die Ignalina NPP showing differentiated vertical movements of the several-kilometres scale tectonic blocs.