Carried out in 2021, the wide-angle reflection-refraction (WARR) SHIELD’21 profile crosses, from SW to NE, the main tectonic structures of Ukraine. It has targeted the crustal and uppermost mantle structure underlying the Archaean and Paleoproterozoic crystalline complexes of the Ukrainian Shield and the adjacent platformal areas. To the SW of the Ukrainian Shield, the crystalline basement is overlain by Vendian through Paleozoic strata of the Volhyno-Podolian Homocline, plunging at its SW end below the Carpathian belt and its Neogene foredeep. To the NE, the crystalline cratonic basement is covered by Devonian and Carboniferous successions of the Dnieper-Donets rift basin. The ~650 km long SHIELD’21 profile is a northeasterly extension of the RomUkrSeis profile carried out in 2014 and running from Romania to the southwestern part of the Ukrainian Shield (Starostenko et al., 2020). The WARR study along the SHIELD’21 profile provided high-quality seismic records. The main recorded seismic waves are refractions of P- and S-waves in the sedimentary layer, crystalline basement, middle and lower crust and uppermost mantle, as well as reflections from crustal boundaries, the Moho interface and boundaries in the uppermost mantle. The correlation picking of their arrival times allowed us to build a velocity model not only for the P-, but also for S-waves and Vp/Vs ratio. The model reveals that over the entire thickness of the crust, the Vp in the crystalline basement nowhere exceeds 6.85 km/s, which – particularly in the context of the lower crust – represent low values, but similar to those known from the other nearby deep seismic profiles (e.g. TTZ-South, and DOBRE-4). Patterns of crustal boundaries combined with velocity differences across them, permit hypothesizing on Proterozoic large-scale subhorizontal extensional faulting in the crystalline upper crust. A prominent dome-like structure in the lower crust may represent a longitudinal section of a major duplex resulting from Paleoproterozoic overthrusting to the NW, comparable to those interpreted on the TTZ-South profile (Janik et al., 2022). The Moho shows strong variability of a depth (~32-50 km), and is underplated by lenticular horizontal ca. 10 km thick high velocity mantle bodies with Vp>8.36 to 8.40 km/s, also present deeper in the upper mantle of Vp between 8.15 and 8.25 km/s. The Moho is prominent and marked by the Vp velocity contrast of c. 1.4 to 1.8 km/s between the upper mantle and lower crust. It is characteristically undulated with successive downward and upward bends, with the amplitude locally exceeding 15 km and wavelength of the order of 150 to 250 km. A similar Moho undulation form was described along the DOBRE-4 profile and was interpreted as Mesozoic(?) buckle mega-folds (Starostenko et al, 2013). Janik, T. et al. (2022). TTZ-South, Minerals, 12, 112, doi.org/10.3390/min12020112 Starostenko, V. et al. (2013). DOBRE-4, Geophys. J. Int. 195, 740–766, doi.10.1093/gji/ggt292 Starostenko, V. et al. (2020). RomUkrSeis, Tectonophysics, 794, 228620, doi.org/10.1016/j.tec to.2020.228620

Carried out in 2021, the wide-angle reflection-refraction (WARR) SHIELD’21 profile crosses, from SW to NE, the main tectonic structures of Ukraine. It has targeted the crustal and uppermost mantle structure underlying the Archaean and Paleoproterozoic crystalline complexes of the Ukrainian Shield and the adjacent platformal areas. To the SW of the Ukrainian Shield, the crystalline basement is overlain by Vendian through Paleozoic strata of the Volhyno-Podolian Homocline, plunging at its SW end below the Carpathian belt and its Neogene foredeep. To the NE, the crystalline cratonic basement is covered by Devonian and Carboniferous successions of the Dnieper-Donets rift basin. The ~650 km long SHIELD’21 profile is a northeasterly extension of the RomUkrSeis profile carried out in 2014 and running from Romania to the southwestern part of the Ukrainian Shield (Starostenko et al., 2020). The WARR study along the SHIELD’21 profile provided high-quality seismic records. The main recorded seismic waves are refractions of P- and S-waves in the sedimentary layer, crystalline basement, middle and lower crust and uppermost mantle, as well as reflections from crustal boundaries, the Moho interface and boundaries in the uppermost mantle. The correlation picking of their arrival times allowed us to build a velocity model not only for the P-, but also for S-waves and Vp/Vs ratio. The model reveals that over the entire thickness of the crust, the Vp in the crystalline basement nowhere exceeds 6.85 km/s, which – particularly in the context of the lower crust – represent low values, but similar to those known from the other nearby deep seismic profiles (e.g. TTZ-South, and DOBRE-4). Patterns of crustal boundaries combined with velocity differences across them, permit hypothesizing on Proterozoic large-scale subhorizontal extensional faulting in the crystalline upper crust. A prominent dome-like structure in the lower crust may represent a longitudinal section of a major duplex resulting from Paleoproterozoic overthrusting to the NW, comparable to those interpreted on the TTZ-South profile (Janik et al., 2022). The Moho shows strong variability of a depth (~32-50 km), and is underplated by lenticular horizontal ca. 10 km thick high velocity mantle bodies with Vp>8.36 to 8.40 km/s, also present deeper in the upper mantle of Vp between 8.15 and 8.25 km/s. The Moho is prominent and marked by the Vp velocity contrast of c. 1.4 to 1.8 km/s between the upper mantle and lower crust. It is characteristically undulated with successive downward and upward bends, with the amplitude locally exceeding 15 km and wavelength of the order of 150 to 250 km. A similar Moho undulation form was described along the DOBRE-4 profile and was interpreted as Mesozoic(?) buckle mega-folds (Starostenko et al, 2013).   Janik, T. et al. (2022). TTZ-South, Minerals, 12, 112, doi.org/10.3390/min12020112 Starostenko, V. et al. (2013). DOBRE-4, Geophys. J. Int. 195, 740–766, doi.10.1093/gji/ggt292 Starostenko, V. et al. (2020). RomUkrSeis, Tectonophysics, 794, 228620, doi.org/10.1016/j.tec to.2020.228620

The SW-NE directed wide-angle reflection-refraction (WARR) SHIELD'21 profile crosses entire width of Ukraine. It targeted the structure of the crust and uppermost mantle in the southwestern part of the East European Craton (EEC), between Carpathians and Voronezh Massif, across Ukrainian Shield and Dnieper-Donets Basin. The similar to 660 km-long profile is an extension of the RomUkrSeis profile in Romania and Ukraine. SHIELD'21 experiment, using TEXAN and DATA-CUBE short-period seismic stations, provided high-quality seismic sections from 10 shot points. This allowed construction of a ray-tracing P-wave velocity model, supplemented by V-p/V-s ratio, for the upper part of the lithosphere in the Sarmatia segment of the EEC and constraining geodynamic processes that led to the formation of the Ukrainian Shield and its margins since Archean times. The velocity distribution in the crystalline crust indicates a rather uniform structure, with velocity changing from 6.0 km/s near the surface to 6.8 km/s at the Moho. The entire section shows the lack of a high-velocity lower crust (V-p > 6.8 km/s), presumably resulting from delamination of the primitive mafic lower crust during early evolution of a juvenile continental crust. The seismic boundaries in the upper crust reflect a Paleoproterozoic extensional detachment system below the SW flank of Dnieper-Donets rift basin, initiated in the Devonian. At larger depths, a wide dome of the lower crust with velocities of 6.5-6.8 km/s in the SW-central segment of the profile, probably represents an enormous Palaeoproterozoic(?) granitoid batholith. In the southwesternmost part of the profile, the crystalline crust shows exclusively low velocities. The prominent Moho is undulating and varies in depth between 32 and 50 km. It is underlain by high-velocity bodies (V-p: 8.36-8.40 km/s), against the background of 8.16-8.25 km/s in the mantle. The velocity model corresponds with the anomalies of potential fields and zones of high electric conductivity.

The second part of the article continues the consideration of the deep crustal structure of the regions of Ukraine, in particular the Volyno-Podolsk Plate (VPP), as well as the Moho surface and mantle to a depth of 850 km, using a set of geophysical methods. Geothermal and density models of the crust are presented here. The seismic data show that the sedimentary cover of the VPP at the boundary with the Trans-European Suture Zone (TESZ) sinks to a depth of about 4 km instead of 8-10 km as previously thought, because the rest of the deep part of the Subcarpathian Trough is composed of crushed Precambrian crystalline rocks. The boundary between the East European Craton (EEC) and the West European Platform (WEP) is the Precarpathian Fault, which rises from the keeled Moho surface trough beneath the Precarpathian Forearc. The Moho keeled trough beneath the Trans-European zone is the deepest part of this surface in Ukraine according to the wide-angle reflection/refraction (WARR) profiles. The average depth of the Moho surface in Ukraine, according to WARR data, is 40-45 km. According to the GSZ geotraverse and WARR profiles, listric fault zones are observed in the crust and upper part of the upper mantle, which sink in to the mantle to the depth of seismic observations (75-80 km). Further, in the form of subducting slabs 100-250 km thick and 300-1000 km long, they can be traced, according to seismic tomography, to a depth of 250-400 km. The paper briefly discusses the features of the seismic tomographic research methodology developed at the Subbotin Institute of Geophysics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and presents the scheme of the main sutural zones and slabs in the studied area. Slabs are observed mainly from Fennoscandia and from the Fennoscandia-Volga-Uralia boundary under Sarmatia, as well as from the under the TTZ and WEP, and from the WEP under the TTZ. It follows that the results of seismic tomography quite objectively confirm the conclusions of the supporters of plate-tectonic ideas expressed in the 1970s and 1980s before these results were available. The article presents general conclusions based on the results of the studies given in Parts I and II and emphasizes that the geophysical and geological data obtained in the XXI century leaven doubt that the geological development of Sarmatia, including the platform territory of Ukraine, from the Neoarchean to the present day has followed the geodynamic laws of plate-plume tectonics, to which the authors seen serious alternative.

The «Geophysical Journal» is 45 years old

The wide-angle reflection and refraction (WARR) SHIELD’21 profile carried out in 2021 crosses from SW to NE the main tectonic of Ukraine. The SHIELD’21 targeted the structure of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle of the southwestern margin of the East European Craton with overlying Neogene Carpathian Foredeep and Vendian-Paleozoic Volyn-Podolian Monocline, Archaean and Paleoproterozoic segments of Ukrainian Shield and Late Paleozoic Dnieper-Donets Basin. The ~650 km long profile is an extension of realized in 2014 RomUkrSeis line in Romania and Ukraine from Apuseni Mountains to southwestern Ukrainian Shield. The field work performed in 2021, included the deployment of autonomous seismic stations and drilling-explosive works. A total of 264 seismic receivers were deployed (160 DATA-CUBE and 104 TEXAN stations) with the average spacing between the observation points about 2.65 km. The sampling interval for all stations was 0.01 s. Seismic energy was generated by 10 shot points with ~50 km of distance between them and total charge in all wells 5775 kg. The SHIELD’21 experiment using TEXAN and DATA-CUBE short-period seismic stations provided high-quality seismic records. The main recorded seismic waves are the refractions of P- and S-waves in sediments, basement, crust and upper-most mantle, and reflections from crustal boundaries, Moho interface and boundaries in the uppermost mantle. Correlation of travel time arrivals of seismic waves provides calculation of the velocity model for both P- and S-waves. The main objective of the SHIELD’21 project is to get new seismic data that increase our knowledge on the lithosphere structure as well as geodynamics of the oil-and-gas-bearing and ore regions of Ukraine.

The TTZ-South seismic profile follows the Teisseyre-Tornquist zone (TTZ) at the SW margin of the East European craton (EEC). Investigation results reveal the upper lithospheric structure as representing the NW-vergent, NE-SW striking overthrust-type, Paleoproterozoic (~1.84–1.8 Ga) Fennoscandia-Sarmatia suture. The Sarmatian segment of the EEC comprises two crustal-scale tectonic thrust slices: the Moldavo-Podolian and Lublino-Volhynian basement units, overriding the northerly located Lysogoro-Radomian unit of Fennoscandian affinity. The combined results of the TTZ-South and other nearby deep seismic profiles are consistent with a continuation of the EEC cratonic basement across the TTZ to the SW and its plunging into the deep substratum of the adjacent Paleozoic platform. Extensional deformation responsible for the formation of the mid to late Proterozoic (~1.4–0.6 Ga), SW-NE trending Orsha-Volhynia rift basin is probably also recorded. The thick Ediacaran succession deposited in the rift was later tectonically thickened due to Variscan deformation. The Moho depth varies between 37 and 49 km, resulting in the thinnest crust in the SE, sharp depth changes across the TTZ, and slow shallowing from 49 to 43 km to the NW. The abrupt Moho depth increase from 43 to 49 km is considered to reflect the overlying lower crust tectonic duplication within the suture zone.

The wide-angle reflection and refraction (WARR) TTZ-South transect carried out in 2018 crosses the SW region of Ukraine and the SE region of Poland. The TTZ-South profile targeted the structure of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle of the Trans-European Suture Zone, as well as the southwestern segment of the East European Craton (slope of the Ukrainian Shield). The ~550 km long profile (~230 km in Poland and ~320 km in western Ukraine) is an extension of previously realized projects in Poland, TTZ (1993) and CEL03 (2000). The deep seismic sounding study along the TTZ-South profile using TEXAN and DATA-CUBE seismic stations (320 units) made it possible to obtain high-quality seismic records from eleven shot points (six in Ukraine and five in Poland). This paper presents a smooth P wave velocity model based on first-arrival travel-time inversion using the FAST (First Arrival Seismic Tomography) code. The obtained image represents a preliminary velocity model which, according to the P wave velocities, consists of a sedimentary layer and the crystalline crust that could comprise upper, middle and lower crustal layers. The Moho interface, approximated by the 7.5 km/s isoline, is located at 45—47 km depth in the central part of the profile, shallowing to 40 and 37 km depth in the northern (Radom-Łysogуry Unit, Poland) and southern (Volyno-Podolian Monocline, Ukraine) segments of the profile, respectively. A peculiar feature of the velocity cross-section is a number of high-velocity bodies distinguished in the depth range of 10—35 km. Such high-velocity bodies were detected previously in the crust of the Radom-Łysogуry Unit. These bodies, inferred at depths of 10—35 km, could be allochthonous fragments of what was originally a single mafic body or separate mafic bodies intruded into the crust during the break-up of Rodinia in the Neoproterozoic, which was accompanied by considerable rifting. The manifestations of such magmatism are known in the NE part of the Volyno-Podolian Monocline, where the Vendian trap formation occurs at the surface.

RomUkrSeis is a controlled source wide-angle reflection and refraction (WARR) profile acquired in August 2014. It is 675 km long, running roughly SW-NE from the Apuseni Mountains in Romania and the Transylvanian Basin, crossing the arc of the Eastern Carpathian orogen and terminating in the East European Craton (EEC) in SW Ukraine. Well-constrained 2-D ray-tracing P- and partly S-wave velocity models have been constructed along the profile from 348 single-component seismic recorders and eleven shot points. The Eastern Carpathian arc formed in the Cenozoic and have obscured the pre-existing Teisseyre-Tornquist Zone (TTZ), which is a transition zone between the Precambrian EEC and continental terranes accreted to it from the southwest in the Palaeozoic. The TTZ is characterised by low-velocity through its entire crust (6.0-6.3 km/s) and a considerable width (similar to 140 km). It is interpreted as EEC crust stretched during rifting and continental margin formation in the Neoproterozoic and early Palaeozoic. The crust of the TTZ has a "trough in trough" structure wherein an upper body of similar to 40 km width comprising Outer Carpathian (V-P 4.9 km/s) and Late Palaeozoic-Mesozoic (V-P 5.4 km/s) units to 15 km depth lies above a wider, deeper one of inferred Neoproterozoic-early Palaeozoic strata. The crust of the Transylvanian Basin and Apuseni Mountains is relatively thin (similar to 32 km). A high-velocity body at 4-12 km depth in this area is interpreted as a rootless fragment of an ophiolite complex exposed at the surface in this area. The lower crust beneath the Transylvanian Basin displays higher velocities than adjacent segments. Moho topography is strongly differentiated along the profile, varying from 32 to 50 km. The Moho shape, especially in the area between the Inner and Outer Carpathians, suggests a NE dip and, hence, thrusting of the Tisza-Dacia lowermost crustal and upper mantle units under the TTZ domain which, in turn, could be thrust under the cratonic (EEC) block.

Summary The reinterpretation of the “old” seismic data along the line of the 900 km long geotraverse profile is represented by a seismic tomographic model. The bitmap images of the original seismic data were converted into vector diagrams by the DIGITIZER computer program. This made it possible to represent the hodographs as numerical data sets and to construct the seismic tomographic model along the geotraverse line. The velocity model is obtained by the tomographic inversion method of first arrivals of seismic waves. The deep tectonic structures are clearly outlined on the tomographic model. In particular, the Ukrainian Shield is characterized by Volyn, Podolsk, and Bug Megablocks with uplifts of variable sizes in the upper and middle crust. The Golovanivska suture zone is distinguished as uplift from the northwest to the southeast and the Kryvorizka suture zone is highlighted in the opposite direction.

Crustal and uppermost mantle structure along the Teisseyre-Tornquist Zone (TTZ) was explored along the ~550 km long, NW-SE-trending TTZ-South profile, using seismic wide-angle reflection/refraction (WARR) method. The profile line was intended to follow the border between the East European Craton (EEC) and the so called Palaeozoic Platform (PP) of north-central Europe, believed to contain a number of crustal blocks that were accreted to the craton during pre-late Carboniferous times, defining the Trans-European Suture Zone (TESZ).The seismic velocity model of the TTZ-South profile shows lateral variations in crustal structure. Its Ukrainian segment crosses the interior of the Sarmatian segment of the EEC, where the crystalline basement gradually dips from ~2 km depth in the SE to ~12 km at the Ukrainian-Polish border. This part of the model shows a four-layered crustal structure, with an up to 15 km-thick sedimentary cover, an underlying crystalline upper crust, a 10-15 km-thick middle crust and a ~15 km thick lower crust. In Poland, the profile passes along the TESZ/EEC transition zone of complex crustal structure. The crystalline basement, whose top occurs at depths of 10-17 km, separates the sedimentary cover from the ~10 km thick mid-crustal layer (Vp=6.5-6.6 km/s), which, in turn, overlies a block of 10-15 km thickness with upper crustal velocities (Vp~6.2 km/s). The latter is underlain by a ~10-15 km-thick lower crust. Along most of the model one can see conspicuous velocity inversion zones occuring at various depths. At intersections of the TTZ-South profile with some previous deep seismic profiles (e.g. CEL02, CEL05, CEL14, PANCAKE) such inversions document complex wedging relationships between the EEC and PP crustal units. These may have resulted from tectonic compression and thick-skinned thrusting due to either Neoproterozoic EEC collision with accreting terranes or intense Variscan orogenic events. Five high velocity bodies (HVB; Vp = 6.85-7.2 km/s) were detected in the middle and lower crust at 15-37 km depth. The Moho depth varies substantially along the profile. It is at ~42 km depth in the NW and deepens SE-ward to ~50 km at ~685 km. Subsequently, it rises abruptly to ~43 km at the border of the Sarmatian segment of the EEC and sinks again to ~50 km beneath the Lviv Paleozoic trough at ~785 km. From this point until the SE end of the profile, the Moho gently shallows, up to a depth of ~37 km, including a step-like jump of 2 km at ~875 km. Such abrupt Moho steps may be related to crust-scale strike-slip faults. Along the whole profile, sub-Moho velocities are ~8.05-8.1 km/s, and at depths of 57-63 km Vp values reach 8.2-8.25 km/s. Four reflectors/refractors were modelled in the upper mantle at ~57-65 km and ~80 km depths.

Summary The paper proposes reinterpretation of digitized seismic hodographs of geotraverse VI (on the distance 440–520), and further calculation of the velocity model using tomographic inversion in order to clarify the deep structure of the Pobuzkyi mining-ore district (PMOD) of the Ukrainian shield (USh), which is characterized by various mineral complexes of crystalline Precambrian rocks.

The GEORIFT 2013 (GR'13) WARR (wide-angle reflection and refraction) experiment was carried out in 2013 in the territory of Belarus and Ukraine with broad international co-operation. The aim of the work is to study basin architecture and deep structure of the Pripyat-Dnieper-Donets Basin (PDDB), which is the deepest and best studied Palaeozoic rift basin in Europe. The PDDB is located in the southern part of the East European Craton (EEC) and crosses Sarmatia-one of the three segments of the EEC. The PDDB was formed by Late Devonian rifting associated with domal basement uplift and magmatism. The GR'13 extends in NW SE direction along the PDDB strike and crosses the Pripyat Trough (PT) and Dnieper Graben (DG) separated by the Bragin Uplift (BU) of the basement. The field acquisition along the GR'13 (of 670 km total length) involved 14 shots and recorders deployed every similar to 2.2 km for several shot points. The good quality of the data, with first arrivals visible up to 670 km for several shot points, allowed for construction of a velocity model extending to 80 km depth using ray-tracing modelling. The thickness of the sediments (Vp < 6.0 km s(-1)) varies from 1-4 km in the PT, to 5 km in the NW part of the DG, to 10-13 km in the SE part of the profile. Below the DG, at similar to 330-530 km distance, we observed an upwarping of the lower crust (with Vp of similar to 7.1 km s(-1)) to 25 km depth that represents a rift pillow or mantle underplate. The Moho shallows southeastwards from similar to 47 km in the PT to 40-38 km in the DG with mantle velocities of 8.35 and similar to 8.25 km s(-1) in the PT and DG, respectively. A near-horizontal mantle discontinuity was found beneath BU (a transition zone from the PT to the DG) at the depth of 50-47 km. It dips to the depth of similar to 60 km at distances of 360-405 km, similar to the intersecting EUROBRIDGE'97 profile. The crust and upper mantle structure on the GR'13 may reflect varying intensity of rifting in the PDDB from a passive stage in the PT to active rifting in the DG. The absence of Moho uplift and relatively thick crystalline crust under the PT is explained by its tectonic position as a closing unit of the PDDB, with a gradual attenuation of rifting from the southeast to the northwest. The most active stage of rifting is evidenced in the DG by a shallower Moho and by a presence of a rift pillow caused by mafic and ultramafic intrusions during the active phase. The junction of the PT and the DG (the BU) locates just at its intersection with the NS regional tectonic zone Odessa-Gomel. Most likely, the 'blocking' effect of this zone did not allow for further propagation of active rifting to the NW.

Abstract The DOBRE-2 wide-angle reflection and refraction profile was acquired in June 2007 as a direct, southwestwards prolongation of the 1999 DOBREfraction'99 that crossed the Donbas Foldbelt in eastern Ukraine. It crosses the Azov Massif of the East European Craton, the Azov Sea, the Kerch Peninsula (the easternmost part of Crimea) and the northern East Black Sea Basin, thus traversing the entire Crimea–Caucasus compressional zone centred on the Kerch Peninsula. The DOBRE-2 profile recorded a mix of onshore explosive sources as well as airguns at sea. A variety of single-component recorders were used on land and ocean bottom instruments were deployed offshore and recovered by ship. The DOBRE-2 datasets were degraded by a lack of shot-point reversal at the southwestern terminus and by some poor signal registration elsewhere, in particular in the Black Sea. Nevertheless, they allowed a robust velocity model of the upper crust to be constructed along the entire profile as well as through the entire crust beneath the Azov Massif. A less well constrained model was constructed for much of the crust beneath the Azov Sea and the Kerch Peninsula. The results showed that there is a significant change in the upper crustal lithology in the northern Azov Sea, expressed in the near surface as the Main Azov Fault; this boundary can be taken as the boundary between the East European Craton and the Scythian Platform. The upper crustal rocks of the Scythian Platform in this area probably consist of metasedimentary rocks. A narrow unit as shallow as about 5 km and characterized by velocities typical of the crystalline basement bounds the metasedimentary succession on its southern margin and also marks the northern margin of the northern foredeep and the underlying successions of the Crimea–Caucasus compressional zone in the southern part of the Azov Sea. A broader and somewhat deeper basement unit (about 11 km) with an antiformal shape lies beneath the northern East Black Sea Basin and forms the southern margin of the Crimea–Caucasus compressional zone. The depth of the underlying Moho discontinuity increases from 40 km beneath the Azov Massif to 47 km beneath the Crimea–Caucasus compressional zone.

This part of the paper addresses the geotectonic interpretation of the velocity model obtained from the results of seismic studies under the DOBRE-4 project in Ukraine. The velocity field does not show distinct lateral changes from the Precambrian platform towards the younger tectonic structures in the southwest. Hence, based on the seismic data alone, it is not possible to recognize the tectonic units that are known on the surface. The Moho has an undulating pattern over an interval with a length of ~150 km. The amplitude of the undulations reaches 8 to 17 km. The similar wavelike behavior, although on a shorter spatial scale and lower amplitude, is also typical of the upper crust and upper mantle. The presence of several separate horizons in the folded crust revealed by the velocity model is consistent with the presence of the folded systems which have different extensions on the different depth levels in the Earth’s crust. This situation is believed to be typical of folding on the lithospheric scale and to reflect the rheological stratification of the crust. The DOBRE-4 velocity section of the crust and adjacent part of the mantle promotes a clearer view of the geodynamical model describing the formation of the southwestern part of East European Platform in the Early Precambrian from the plate’s tectonic standpoint.

For studying the structure of the lithosphere in southern Ukraine, wide-angle seismic studies that recorded the reflected and refracted waves were carried out under the DOBRE-4 project. The field works were conducted in October 2009. Thirteen chemical shot points spaced 35–50 km apart from each other were implemented with a charge weight varying from 600 to 1000 kg. Overall 230 recording stations with an interval of 2.5 km between them were used. The high quality of the obtained data allowed us to model the velocity section along the profile for P- and S-waves. Seismic modeling was carried out by two methods. Initially, trial-and-error ray tracing using the arrival times of the main reflected and refracted P- and S-phases was conducted. Next, the amplitudes of the recorded phases were analyzed by the finite-difference full waveform method. The resulting velocity model demonstrates a fairly homogeneous structure from the middle to lower crust both in the vertical and horizontal directions. A drastically different situation is observed in the upper crust, where the V p velocities decrease upwards along the section from 6.35 km/s at a depth of 15–20 km to 5.9–5.8 km/s on the surface of the crystalline basement; in the Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic deposits, it diminishes from 5.15 to 3.80 km/s, and in the Mesozoic layers, it decreases from 2.70 to 2.30 km/s. The subcrustal V p gradually increases downwards from 6.50 to 6.7–6.8 km/s at the crustal base, which complicates the problem of separating the middle and lower crust. The V p velocities above 6.80 km/s have not been revealed even in the lowermost part of the crust, in contrast to the similar profiles in the East European Platform. The Moho is clearly delineated by the velocity contrast of 1.3–1.7 km/s. The alternating pattern of the changes in the Moho depths corresponding to Moho undulations with a wavelength of about 150 km and the amplitude reaching 8 to 17 km is a peculiarity of the velocity model.

The interpretation of seismic refraction and wide angle reflection data usually involves the creation of a velocity model based on an inverse or forward modelling of the travel times of crustal and mantle phases using the ray theory approach. The modelling codes differ in terms of model parameterization, data used for modelling, regularization of the result, etc . It is helpful to know the capabilities, advantages and limitations of the code used compared to others. This work compares some popular 2D seismic modelling codes using the dataset collected along the seismic wide-angle profile DOBRE-4, where quite peculiar/uncommon reflected phases were observed in the wavefield. The ~505 km long profile was realized in southern Ukraine in 2009, using 13 shot points and 230 recording stations. Double P M P phases with a different reduced time (7.5–11 s) and a different apparent velocity, intersecting each other, are observed in the seismic wavefield. This is the most striking feature of the data. They are interpreted as reflections from strongly dipping Moho segments with an opposite dip. Two steps were used for the modelling. In the previous work by Starostenko et al. (2013), the trial-and-error forward model based on refracted and reflected phases (SEIS83 code) was published. The interesting feature is the high-amplitude (8–17 km) variability of the Moho depth in the form of downward and upward bends. This model is compared with results from other seismic inversion methods: the first arrivals tomography package FAST based on first arrivals; the JIVE3D code, which can also use later refracted arrivals and reflections; and the forward and inversion code RAYINVR using both refracted and reflected phases. Modelling with all the codes tested showed substantial variability of the Moho depth along the DOBRE-4 profile. However, SEIS83 and RAYINVR packages seem to give the most coincident results.

The Scythian Platform (ScP) with a heterogeneous basement of Baikalian-Variscan-Cimmerian age is located between the East European Craton (EEC) on the north and the Crimean-Caucasus orogenic belt and the Black Sea (BS) Basin on the south. In order to get new constrains on the basin architecture and crustal structure of the ScP and a better understanding of the tectonic processes and evolution of the southern margin of the EEC during Mesozoic and Cenozoic time, a 630-km-long seismic wide-angle refraction and reflection (WARR) profile DOBRE-5 was acquired in 2011 October. It crosses in a W-E direction the Fore-Dobrudja Trough, the Odessa Shelf of the BS and the Crimean Plain. The field acquisition included eight chemical shot points located every 50 km and recorded by 215 stations placed every similar to 2.0 km on the land. In addition, the offshore data from existing profile 26, placed in the Odessa Shelf, were used. The obtained seismic model shows clear lateral segmentation of the crust within the study region on four domains: the Fore-Dobrudja Domain (km 20-160), an offshore domain of the Karkinit Trough at the Odessa Shelf of the BS (km 160-360), an onshore domain of the Central Crimean Uplift (Crimean Plain, km 360-520) and the Indolo-Kuban Trough at the Kerch Peninsula (km 520-620) that is the easternmost part of the Crimea. Two contrasting domains of the ScP within the central part of the DOBRE-5 profile, the Karkinit Trough and the Central Crimean Uplift, may represent different stages of the ScP formation. A deep Karkinit Trough with an underlying high-velocity (>7.16 km s(-1)) lower crust body suggests its rifting-related origin during Early Cretaceous time. The Central Crimean Uplift represents a thick (up to 47 km) crustal domain consisting of three layers with velocities 5.8-6.4, 6.5-6.6 and 6.7-7.0 km s(-1), which could be evidence of this part of the ScP originating on the crust of Precambrian craton (EEC). The thick heterogeneous basement of the Central Crimean Uplift shows inclusions of granitic bodies associated with magmatic activity related with Variscan orogeny within the ScP. General bending and crustal scale buckling of the Central Crimean Uplift with a wavelength of 230 km could be an effect of the Alpine compressional tectonics in the adjacent Crimean Mountains. The extended/rifted continental margin of the ScP (EEC) at the Odessa Shelf and buckling/uplifted domain of the Central Crimean Uplift affected by compressional tectonics, are separated by the N-S oriented Western Crimean Fault. The crust of the southern margin of the EEC is separated from the ScP, which originated on the EEC crust tectonised and reworked during the Palaeozoic-Mesozoic, by the crustal fault of similar to W-E orientation, which corresponds with the Golitsyn Fault observed at the surface between the EEC and the ScP. The Fore-Dobrudja Domain with a thick (>10 km) heterogeneous basement and two subhorizontal layers in the crystalline crust (with velocities 6.2-6.3 and 6.4-6.65 km s(-1)) differs from the ScP crust and its origin could be very similar to that of the Trans-European Suture Zone and Palaeozoic West European Platform.