Relationship of Megafracturing Expressed in the Relief of Southeast Kamchatka with Volcanism and Thermal Condition of the Upper Part of the Lithosphere

Abstract

Geomorphological methods have been used to identify areas of increased megafracture in the southeast of Kamchatka, characterized by high crustal seismicity and low temperature values at a depth of 1 km. It is established that warmer areas of concentration of volcanoes and hot springs are not favorable for the development of surface fracturing, since an increase in temperature leads to the dominance of plastic deformations over brittle ones. Thus, using the example of the selected area, the possibilities of structural–geomorphological and morphometric analysis of the relief are shown to identify areas in different geothermal states, which largely determine not only the relief and seismicity, but also the ecological and landscape appearance of the territory as a whole, including its floristic and faunistic features.