NATO Collaborative Linkage Grant – Project CLG 982957

Project Coordinator:
Federico Pasquaré Mariotto, Insubria University, Italy

Other Principal Investigators:
Avtandil Okrostsvaridze, Georgian Academy of Sciences, Tbilisi, Georgia
Bejan Tutberidze, Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
Daniel Tormey, ENTRIX Inc., Ventura, California, USA
Salih Bayraktutan, Ataturk University, Ankara, Turkey

Predicting and minimizing the impact of possible natural hazards to strategic pipelines carrying energy from the Caspian Sea through the Caucasian region is of paramount importance to ensure the steady supply of energy to European countries. The cooperative Georgian-Turkish-Italian-U.S. project “Volcanic Hazards and Countermeasures for Georgian Section of Caspian Pipelines” was aimed at providing an essential understanding and assessment of the volcanic and related geohazards threatening the Georgian section of the strategic Caspian oil and gas pipelines within the recent Javakheti plateau, and developing mitigation and protection measures against these natural hazards. The main objectives of this project were to establish a scientific cooperation between the researchers from different countries, and to augment and enhance interdisciplinary analysis of geological, structural, neotectonic, volcanological, petrological, radiometric and geochemical data already existing for the active Abul-Samsari volcanic range (belonging to the Javakheti plateau), and new data to be obtained during the project. The hazard assessment and protective strategies developed in the course of the research may be applicable to other areas of recent volcanism where oil and gas pipelines are to be designed and constructed.