Pavel Kalenda

The trajectory, structure and origin of the Chelyabinsk asteroidal impactor

Earth is continuously colliding with fragments of asteroids and comets of various sizes. The largest encounter in historical times occurred over the Tunguska river in Siberia in 1908, producing an airburst of energy equivalent to 5–15 megatons of trinitrotoluene (1 kiloton of trinitrotoluene represents an energy of 4.185 × 1012 joules). Until recently, the next most energetic airburst events occurred over Indonesia in 2009 and near the Marshall Islands in 1994, both with energies of several tens of kilotons. Here we report an analysis of selected video records of the Chelyabinsk superbolide of 15 February 2013, with energy equivalent to 500 kilotons of trinitrotoluene, and details of its atmospheric passage. We found that its orbit was similar to the orbit of the two-kilometre-diameter asteroid 86039 (1999 NC43), to a degree of statistical significance sufficient to suggest that the two were once part of the same object. The bulk strength—the ability to resist breakage—of the Chelyabinsk asteroid, of about one megapascal, was similar to that of smaller meteoroids and corresponds to a heavily fractured single stone. The asteroid broke into small pieces between the altitudes of 45 and 30 kilometres, preventing more-serious damage on the ground. The total mass of surviving fragments larger than 100 grams was lower than expected.

Seismic activity and deep conductivity structure of the Eastern Carpathians

We present results of a study of the seismicity and the geoelectric structure of the Eastern Carpathians. After the evaluation of the seismicity, new methods of processing and analyzing seismic data are developed, which allow constructing an averaged horizontal-layered velocity model of the crust in the Carpathian region of Ukraine, tracing the seismic active faults and localizing the seismic events both in horizontal and in vertical direction with a better precision. For the study of the conductivity structure beneath the Eastern Carpathians, the collected magnetovariation and magnetotelluric data are used. The depth of electrical conductivity anomalies are estimated and the resulting quasi-3D model of the conductivity structure beneath the Carpathians is compared with the seismicity in the depth range of 10 ± 2.5 km. The comparison suggests possible geological mechanisms: the seismic events occur mainly in resistive solid rock domains which surround aseismic high-conductivity zones, consisting of at least partially melted material. Aqueous fluids, or a joint effect of several mechanisms, may also play an active role in this distribution.

The localization of fireball trajectories with the help of seismic networks

The seismic network can be used for the localization of the fireball trajectory in the atmosphere. The types of sonic or blasting waves, created during the meteorid’s penetration of the atmosphere, are discussed. The practical use of the localization based on cylindrical or spherical waves is shown on the examples of fireballs Morávka (2000), Břeclav (2007), Jesenice (2009) and Košice (2010).

Quantitative analysis of travel-time curves of seismic events in the Ostrava-Karviná coal mining district

SummaryThe paper is intended as a contribution to the quantitative analysis of travel-time curves of seismic events recorded in the Ostrava-Karviná District (OKD). The input data represent a set of 2621 seismic events, recorded by the local seismological network of 26 mine stations DSLA and a regional diagnostic polygon consisting of five surface Lennartz stations. All the events were processed automatically in the Operational Seismological Centre of the Czechoslovak Army Mine in Karviná and stored in the seismological data base. The results are presented in the form of graphs of arrival times versus distance for the whole OKD, for two mines and one tectonic block.Travel-time curves of direct P and S waves, as well as of reflected and refracted waves are given. The direct P and S waves propagate well practically throughout the whole region studied, but their apparent velocities of propagation are affected by the properties of the rock medium.As a result of the complicated geological conditions, the recorded wave image is quite complicated. Methods of mathematical modelling, using kinematic and dynamic parameters of seismic waves, will have to be applied to identify the separate wave groups uniquely.