Why is the capital going underground? - the answer is quite simple
New sinkholes are expected in Moscow in the coming spring. This happens regularly: while the winter is cold - everything is calm, but if the thaw breaks out … Last April, the land “went out from under our feet” in three places at once - on Malaya Pirogovskaya Street, on Genaral Glagolev Street and Serebryanoborsky Tunnel. Where to expect new disasters and why is this happening?
The Moscow authorities, as a rule, look for the guilty on the side, and as the reason for the failures they name all kinds of technological violations. But it’s not that simple. According to the chief geologist of the party of regional geochemical studies of the VIMS branch, candidate of geological and mineralogical sciences Anatoly Pronin, soil liquefaction is underway in the capital. This is due to the fact that the Russian platform, in the center of which the Belokamennaya stands, is literally cut by faults, through which gases, including chemically aggressive ones, are ejected from the very depths of the Earth to the surface.
“Moscow itself stands on an ancient volcano,” the scientist says. - The famous seven hills, including the Kremlin, rest on a deep ring structure. There are quite a few such structures in the Moscow region and neighboring regions. In these tectonic nodes, the subsidence and uplift of the earth's crust has repeatedly occurred. Through cracks and ruptures, the so-called fluid flows rise - gases from the boundary of the Earth's core and mantle. Nitrogen prevails, as well as helium, methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, radon.
The release of gases, says Pronin, in the capital is accompanied by microseismicity. In fact, Moscow is shaking, but not much. A person almost does not notice this. But buildings and structures suffer. Especially those that were built exactly on the site of an ancient fault.
“Once a woman from Beskudnikov turned to me,” says Anatoly Petrovich. - She and her family members had serious health problems. And the house in which they lived was covered with cracks. Moreover, there was always water in the basement of a "bad" house. This is anomalous, since there is a huge depression funnel near Moscow, that is, there is very little water here. Most likely, the house was erected on the site of a fluid flow, since gases rushing to the surface "capture" groundwater with them.
There are thousands of such buildings in Moscow. When designing new structures in a metropolis, tectonics is not taken into account at all. Several years ago, Anatoly Pronin tried to convince the Moscow authorities that it was dangerous to build skyscrapers on the capital's faults. He wrote letters and even planned to make a presentation at one of the government meetings. But they let him on the podium, and the appeals were simply ignored.
Meanwhile, buildings in Moscow are already crumbling. Moscow diggers are sure that the tragedy of Trasvaal Park happened precisely because of the instability of the earth's crust - an ancient tectonic rift passes in the area of the Teply Stan metro station. In 1841 an anomalous natural phenomenon was recorded here. According to eyewitnesses, "a crimson flame burst out of the ground, accompanied by an underground roar and roar." This is how underground gases - fluids - declared themselves.
“In 1940, a strong earthquake hit Moscow in the Carpathians,” says Anatoly Pronin. “Many houses in the city center were shaking. Then it turned out that only those buildings that were moving along the northeastern rift that ran through the entire center of the capital were vibrating.
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Now, according to the geologist, about 15 percent of the city's territory may be underground at any time. One more such small earthquake is enough, and many buildings simply will not survive - they will collapse. It is still possible to prevent new disasters. But instead, Moscow is being built up denser and deeper, which means it is becoming more and more dangerous for its residents.
Chronicle of failures
2007 year
April 22 - failure at Trubnaya Square
May 15 - failure on Leninsky Prospekt
May 25 - sinkhole on Myasnitskaya Street
June 1 - failure on Kosygin street
June 5 - failure on Leningradsky Prospekt
2006 year
November 30 - failure on the Shluzovaya embankment
September 10 - failure on Leningradsky prospect
September 11 - failure on the Dezhnev Pass
March 25 - failure on Myasnitskaya Street
Chronicle of collapses
December 10, 2008 - wooden floors collapsed in Starokonyushenny lane. 6 people were killed.
November 22, 2007 - the Krylatskoye ice rink is closed for repairs due to the threat of collapse.
March 3, 2007 - collapse of floors in a house on Kamennaya Sloboda Street. 2 people were killed.
February 23, 2006 - the building of the Basmanny Market collapsed. 66 people died.
November 18, 2006 - collapse of floors in a building on the territory of the AZLK plant on Projected passage. 2 people were killed.
December 13, 2006 - the wall of the building of the Institute of Medical Polymers on Novaya Basmannaya Street collapsed.