TIPTIMON (Tien-Shan-Pamir Monitoring Program) is a cross-disciplinary project that comprises long-term monitoring of geodynamics and climate in the Central Asian countries of Kyrgyzstan, Tadjikistan, and Uzbekistan. The monitoring seeks to quantify geologic processes like deformation, erosion, and sedimentation as well as their rates, interactions with climate factors, and hazard potential for human habitats. TIPTIMON is a joint research project funded by the German BMBF through the CAME programme.

This subproject will study seismotectonics of the Tajik depression bordered by Tien Shan, Pamir and Hindu Kush mountains. Local network based precise earthquake hypocenters and source mechanisms will allow identification of active seismic structures and quantification of deformation for this densely populated intramontane basin. We will in particular monitor the Darvaz fault as the main structure that accommodates northward translation of the Pamir relative to stable Eurasia. Our results in conjunction with neo-tectonic and remote-sensing studies as well as GPS displacement measurements will allow building a quantitative tectonic fault model that is requisite for any hazard assessment.

Time Frame

06/2012 - 06/2013

Principal Investigators

• Bernd Schurr (GFZ Potsdam)
• Christian Haberland (GFZ Potsdam)
• Xiaohui Yuan (GFZ Potsdam)

Methods & Equipment

• 25 EarthData recorders
• 25 Guralp ESP seismometers
• 8 DATA Cube recorder & Mark geophone

Publications/Results