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Sykes et al. 1993
Sykes, L.R., Deng, J. and Lyubomirskiy, P. (1993). Accurate location of nuclear explosions at Azgir, Kazakhstan, from satellite images and seismic data: Implications for monitoring decoupled explosions. Geophysical Research Letters 20: doi: 10.1029/93GL01218. issn: 0094-8276.

The 10 largest tamped nuclear explosions detonated by the Former Soviet Union in an near two salt domes near Azgir were relocated using seismic data and the locations of shot points on a SPOT satellite image taken in 1988. Many of the shot points are clearly recognized on the satellite image and can be located with an accuracy of 60 m even though testing was carried out at those points many years earlier, i.e. between 1966 and 1979. Onsite inspections and a local seismic monitoring network combined with our accurate locations of previous explosions would insure that any cavities that remain standing from those events could not be used for undetected decoupled nuclear testing down to a very small yield. Since the Azgir area, like much of the Pre-Caspian depression, is arid, it would not be a suitable place for constructing large cavities in salt by solution mining and then using them for clandestine nuclear testing. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1993

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Abstract

Keywords
Seismology, Nuclear test detection, Public Issues, Science policy, Seismology, Structure of the crust, Information Related to Geographic Region, Asia
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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