DAMAST

Dams play an important role in a sustainable concept for power generation and water supply in many regions of the world. However, natural or induced seismicity, especially in combination with heavy precipitation or landslides, can affect dam stability and thus become a hazard for population, infrastructure and environment.

Using the Enguri Dam in the Caucasus as an example, DAMAST investigates the underlying processes and identifies key parameters for safe and efficient dam operation. For this purpose, transferable monitoring concepts for dams in tectonically active regions will be developed. The Geothermal Department is involved in seismic monitoring using innovative techniques and performs (i) the installation, testing and operation of borehole seismometers and (ii) the determination of the spatio-temporal evolution of hypocenters and magnitude distribution.

The seismic monitoring has methodological and applied objectives and is expected to achieve a significantly higher resolution capability than the existing large-scale monitoring network. A seismic fiber optic cable measurement technology, DAS (distributed acoustic sensing), along the deep borehole will be used. DAS is a novel technology in seismology and enables vertically distributed recordings, thus increasing the localization accuracy of the hypocenters. Statistical evaluation of magnitude frequencies and determination of focal mechanisms provide new information on the deformation behavior of the subsurface and contribute to a better understanding of the process. 

Project partners: 

• Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany
• EIFER European Institute for Energy Research, Germany
• Piewak & Partner - Ingenieurbüro für Hydrogeologie und Umweltschutz, Germany
• Geophysical Institute of Tbilisi State University, Georgia
• European Centre on Geodynamical Hazards of High Dams, Tbilisi/Georgia
• Georgian Geophysical Association, Tbilisi/Georgia
• GEORISK, Yerevan/Armenia