Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2007. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-107). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Understanding the nature of mud volcanism, mechanisms of formation, types of eruptions and their relationship to the hydrocarbon systems provides important information about subsurface conditions and geological processes within the South Caspian Basin. A 2D seismic grid in southeastern offshore Azerbaijan is used to define the areal distribution of mud volcanoes and to make a classification of the mud volcanoes based on characteristic seismic features. As a result detailed database for each determined mud volcano is constructed. Analysis of different parameters from this database shows that there is a high concentration of mud volcanoes at the southern part of the study area. It is coincides with the distribution of the subsurface structures within the basin. Mud volcanoes with low relief (several tens of meters) are mainly concentrated in the northeast. Conversely, mud volcanoes with large vertical relief (greater than 200 m) are clustered in the southwest part of the basin. Mud volcano development in the South Caspian Basin is generally linked to faults, which in some instances are detached at the basement level. By using interpreted seismic surfaces it is possible to determine relative time of mud flows from the mud volcanoes. Timing of mud flows reveals to the actual activity of the mud volcanoes and it gives valuable information about possible mechanism of mud volcanism within the South Caspian Basin. Previous studies of the onshore mud volcanoes in Azerbaijan and the results from current work conclude that mud volcano formation within the South Caspian Basin is mainly controlled by tectonic forces and overpressured sediments. Mud volcano activity is not always related to the Maykop organic reach shale succession. It can occur at shallow depths by pressure breakthrough from any stratigraphic zone.

Inaug.-diss.--Leipzig. / Vita. "Benutzte quellen": p. 5-6.

Currently the Caspian is simple described as the world's biggest enclosed body of salt water. The five littoral states of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran, have not come to an agreement in regards to the legal status of the Caspian, which means it is not considered to be a lake or a sea. This incident can be explained by the legal consequences of claiming the Caspian as an International Lake or Sea. As one could assume, this two statuses greatly differ in regards to their legal structures. It is of the utmost importance to not that the various national interests of the littoral states prevent them from reaching a concrete compromise on this issue. Yet a third legal definition with the potential of ending the dispute over the Caspian has for many years overlooked. The name of this official status if called the Condominium and it supports the common usage of the Caspian Sea by all littoral states. Unfortunately no littoral state has shown any sympathy for this proposal. Perhaps then it is clear that none of these legal regimes are capable of producing an adequate solution to this conflict unless the problem is observed from unconventional means.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 275-310). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M. of Strategic Studies)--U.S. Army War College, 2007. / "USAWC program research paper." "DDE research project"--P. [iii]. Title from PDF title screen. Includes bibliographical references (p. 21-26). Also available online via the STINET website (http://stinet.dtic.mil/).

The Caspian Region includes the Caspian Sea and five littoral states: Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Russian. 40% of the Caspian coastal zone is arid, 69% of this territory undergone desertification according to international reports. Among the reasons are soil erosion caused by water, wind and irrigation, the salinization of soil, intense bioresources usage, and soil pollution due to oil extraction and production. Desertification is a serious problem, at global, national and local scales. It is important to know what should be sustained or developed in order to protect land from desertification. The generalization of data over desertification processes in Caspian countries, studying the dynamics of this process in space and time could help facilitate measures to counter regional desertification. To understand Caspian Region coastal desertification phenomenon, vegetation cover satellite images for the years 1982 – 2006 were investigated to give map vegetation changes over time. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data for this study was derived from the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) dataset, with the spatial resolution of 8 km. A coastal strip 160 km from the coast, divided by countries, was investigated. Theanalyses were focused on extent and severity of vegetation cover degradation, and possible causes such as landscape, land use history and culture, climatic changes and policies. The aim was to address questions related to desertification phenomenon, by focusing on Caspian Region time-series of vegetation cover data and investigation patterns of desertification in the region. In this study evidence of land degradation in the Caspian Region countries was found to occur on local scales or sub-national scales rather than across the regional as a whole. Changes in vegetation cover revealed by AVHRR NDVI appeared to be reversible in character and were dependent on the climate conditions, and anthropogenic impact in approximately equal proportions.

The North Caspian Basin (NCB) contains a significant number of major oil fields, some of which are yet to be put into production. The reason why some of these fields are not yet put into production is the exploration challenge that the NCB poses. In particular, the complex geological structure of this region makes it quite difficult to image its oil fields with conventional seismic techniques. This thesis sheds more light on difficulties associated with acquiring and processing seismic data in the NCB. The two central tools for investigation of these imaging challenges were the construction of a geological model of the NCB and the use of an accurate elastic wave-propagation technique to analyze the capability of seismic to illuminate the geological structures of the NCB. Using all available regional and local studies and my knowledge gained with oil companies, where I worked on subsalt and suprasalt 2D and 3D seismic data from the North Caspian Basin, I constructed a 2D elastic isotropic 10-by-6 km geological model of a typical oil field located on the shelf of the Caspian Sea in the southeastern part of the North Caspian Basin, which has the largest oil fields. We have propagated seismic waves through this model. The technique we used to compute wave propagation is known as the Finite-Difference Modeling (FDM) technique. Generating 314 shot gathers with stationary multicomponent OBS receivers that were spread over 10 km took two weeks of CPU time using two parallel computers (8 CPU V880 Sun Microsystems and 24 CPU Sun Enterprise). We have made the data available to the public. The dataset can be uploaded at http://casp.tamu.edu in the SEGY format. The key conclusions of the analysis of these data are as follows: - Combined usage of P- and S-waves allows us to illuminate subsalt reef, clastics and complex salt structures despite the 4-km overburden. - Free-surface multiples and guided waves are one of the key processing challenges in NCB, despite relatively shallow (less than 15 m) shelf water.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-119). Also available on the World Wide Web.

This thesis will determine the influence of Turkey's domestic resources on Turkey's foreign relations with the five Turkic states in the Caspian Sea Region. The spheres analyzed in this study are the common ties, which are history, culture, religion and language, with the regional countries, pan-Turkism, Turkey's initial interactions as well as ongoing constructive policies in the region. Findings showed that both Turkey and the five Turkic republics were enthusiastic to carry their relations in every field to future cooperation following the break up of the Soviet Union. However the Turkic Republics' interest in Turkish development model gradually declined starting from the 1994s.The hypothesis that socio-cultural ties will ease establishing close foreign relations is applicable to all five republics. The Turkic states welcomed Turkey's educational and cultural policies with great willingness. In the field of business we find that Turkish economy follows a similar pattern in its relations with the Azerbaijani and Central Asian markets. Accordant policy goals of Turkey and the five republics led Turkey to establish close foreign relations with the regional countries. Turkey tried to give military aid to the Turkic republics of Central Asia in their struggle against terrorist groups which have the capacity to destabilize governments and to threaten international security. The hypothesis that the more Turkey has business interests in the Caspian Sea Region the more Turkey will have closer foreign relations with Turkic countries is mostly apparent in the case of Azerbaijan. In the area of energy politics Turkey has its strongest link with Azerbaijan. Besides being strong economic partners Turkey is Azerbaijan's biggest supporter in the region against Armenia.