Аннотация:The Vladikavkaz Fault Zone is a regional boundary between the Alpine foldedblock system of the
Greater Caucasus and PreCaucasus foredeep (Ossetian Depression). A complex of geological and geomorpho
logical techniques was used for its study. The data of recent activity of discontinuous and folded dislocations were
obtained as a result. Additional application of the microseismic sounding method allowed us to trace the behav
ior at depth and along the direction of the Vladikavkaz Fault Zone’s branches known on the Earth’s surface from
geological and geophysical surveys. An idea of the threedimensional structure of this system of tectonic faults
was made up. It was shown that the structure of the upper section of the fault zone has a form of listric fold
thrust, and in the deep layers of the Earth’s crust it is represented by a wellformed contrast zone with subvertical
plunging. Expressive deformations of young sediments and a clear manifestation of the fault zone at a depth
make it possible to consider the Vladikavkaz Fault as a major seismogenerating structure.
Keywords: tectonics, recent activity, seismicity, the Earth crust, faults, weakened zones, geologicmorpholog
ical analysis, satellite data, image interpretation, lineaments, tectonic break, microseismic field of the Earth,
surface type seismic waves, microseismic sounding.