Nature of Gravitational Anomaly in the South Caspian Basin

The South Caspian Basin (SCB) at present attracts increased attention of researchers in connection with its exceptionally rich oil and gas resources.<br>This paper presents an evaluation for predicted gravity anomaly in the SCB, that may have formed as a result of the continental plate subsidence at its central part. The gravity anomaly formed as a result of subsidence of plate has been appraised through its comparison with Earth crust of the Russian Craton. <br>This anomaly has been revealed to be equal to -193 mGal and strongly differs from those observed in the SCB. In fact these 193 mGal appear to be possible compensated due to an action of the strata located beneath the Moho partition with considerably higher density than that of mantle material.<br>The gravitational action of the excessive masses located in the upper mantle was considered as an action of the horizontal cylinder shaped body and depth interval of the consolidated part of the upper mantle has been evaluated. On creating the geodynamic evolution model for the SCB one needs to take into account an astenospheric projection which is predicted to occur at 36-87 km interval. <br>