Search results for "Geology"

Evaporite karst in Sicily

2007

Karst areas are distributed over most of Sicily. The most widespread karst rocks are carbonates, particularly limestones, but karst phenomena can also be seen in evaporites and particularly in salt mines. This report provides an overview of evaporite karst in Sicily, along with a “case history” that shows some of the evaporite karst risks to the environment. In the centre and south of Sicily, a thick sequence of Messinian evaporite rocks are subject to dissolution from meteoric and formation waters. In areas where potassium salts and rock salts are being mined, some geomorphologic changes result from the drilling of boreholes and the collapse of underground mines, thus lowering or collapsin…

Hydrogeochemistry and stable isotopes of thermal springs: earthquake-related chemical changes along Belice Fault (Western Sicily)

2001

Abstract Three geothermal systems, Montevago, Castellammare-Alcamo and Sciacca, are located along the main seismogenetic structures in Western Sicily. Concentrations of dissolved species including the gases CO 2 , N 2 , He and the results of stable isotope measurements δ 18 O, δ D and δ 13 C TDIC in water samples collected from six thermal springs and 28 cold discharges were used to characterise their feeder aquifers and to reveal the relationships between water chemistry and regional seismicity. The Sciacca thermal springs differ chemically and isotopically from those of Montevago and the Castellammare-Alcamo areas. The inferred deep end-members of the thermal waters of Montevago and Caste…

Explosive eruptions with little warning: Experimental petrology and volcano monitoring observations from the 2014 eruption of Kelud, Indonesia

2019

Explosive eruptions that occur with little or no precursory unrest (less than a month) pose the greatest hazards from volcanoes to nearby populations. Here we focus on the preeruptive conditions for these explosive events, their triggers and how these eruptions evolve. We concentrate on Kelud volcano, where we have conducted a set of petrological experiments to understand preeruptive storage conditions for several recent eruptions. For the 2014 explosive eruption, we combine this with an analysis of interferometric synthetic aperture radar measured deformation. Our data suggest that both explosive and effusive eruptions at Kelud are sourced from a magma storage system at 2-4 km. However, ex…

Long-term changes in explosive and effusive behaviour at andesitic arc volcanoes: Chronostratigraphy of the Centre Hills Volcano, Montserrat

2017

Volcanism on Montserrat (Lesser Antilles arc) has migrated southwards since the formation of the Silver Hills ~ 2.5 Ma, and has formed three successively active volcanic centres. The Centre Hills volcano was the focus of volcanism from ~ 1–0.4 Ma, before activity commenced at the currently active Soufrière Hills volcano. The history of activity at these two volcanoes provides an opportunity to investigate the pattern of volcano behaviour on an andesitic arc island over the lifetime of individual volcanoes. Here, we describe the pyroclastic stratigraphy of subaerial exposures around central Montserrat; identifying 11 thick (> 1 m) pumiceous units derived from sustained explosive eruptions…

Massive submarine gas output during the volcanic unrest off Panarea Island (Aeolian arc, Italy): Inferences for explosive conditions

2005

The possibility of understanding natural processes leading to explosive events in volcanic systems provides advantages for a better management of possible volcanic crises. On account of the possibility of the occurrence of other phenomena, such as tsunamis, the explosions driven by submarine volcanic systems are of particular interest, although little investigated. The recent sudden increase in the degassing activity of the submarine geothermal system of Panarea Island (Aeolian arc), has allowed us to better understand the way in which the quiet degassing activity of a submarine hydrothermal system may develop if new magma or magmatic gases feed it. We focused our investigations on the crat…

Frequency Based Detection and Monitoring of Small Scale Explosive Activity by Comparing Satellite and Ground Based Infrared Observations at Stromboli…

2014

Abstract Thermal activity is a common precursor to explosive volcanic activity. The ability to use these thermal precursors to monitor the volcano and obtain early warning about upcoming activity is beneficial for both human safety and infrastructure security. By using a very reliably active volcano, Stromboli Volcano in Italy, a method has been developed and tested to look at changes in the frequency of small scale explosive activity and how this activity changes prior to larger, ash producing explosive events. Thermal camera footage was used to designate parameters for typical explosions at Stromboli (size of spatter field, cooling rate, frequency of explosions) and this information was a…

Spectroscopic capture of 1 Hz volcanic SO2fluxes and integration with volcano geophysical data

2009

[1] Here we present a novel spectroscopic approach to capturing, with unprecedented time resolution and accuracy, volcanic SO2 fluxes. This is based on two USB2000 spectrometers, coupled to cylindrical lens telescopes, each collecting light which has transited horizontal sections of the rising plume. We report on field data from Stromboli volcano, in which the entire emission rate from the volcano was measured, as well as flux signatures associated with individual crater explosions. The latter were integrated with seismic and thermal data, demonstrating correlations in both cases, and representing the first such geophysical-geochemical data corroboration on this timescale. Such a holistic e…

Bivergent extension in orogenic belts: The Menderes massif (southwestern Turkey): Comment and Reply

1996

Miocene NNE-directed extensional unroofing in the Menderes Massif, southwestern Turkey

1995

Structural investigations in the central part of the Menderes Massif (Odemis-Kiraz submassif) reveal the presence of a large-scale, low-angle extensional shear zone with a top-to-the-N-NE shear sense. Regional ductile deformation was accompanied by the intrusion of two syntectonic granodiorites that have been dated with the Ar-40/Ar-39 method. One hornblende isochron age of 19.5 +/- 1.4 Ma and two biotite plateau ages of 13.1 +/- 0.2 and 12.2 +/- 0.4 Ma, respectively, constrain that extension was already active in the early Miocene. Successive tectonic denudation of the Odemis-Kiraz submassif resulted in the formation of a N-dipping detachment fault, in which ductile fabrics were severely r…

Geophysical investigation of Pleistocene volcanism and tectonics offshore Capo Vaticano (Calabria, southeastern Tyrrhenian Sea)

2015

Abstract Magma upwelling forming volcanic plumbing systems in back arc settings is typically controlled by extensional tectonic structures of the upper crust. Here we investigate this process in the area between the volcanic arc of the Aeolian Islands and the Calabrian arc (SE Tyrrhenian Sea) by integrating morpho-bathymetry and reflection seismic data with the outcomes of “Inverse 3D magnetic modeling” of previously gathered aeromagnetic data. Morpho-bathymetric data highlight the presence of a seamount ∼10 km offshore Capo Vaticano Promontory (eastern Calabria). This feature, named Capo Vaticano seamount is composed of a series of NE-trending ridges, the greatest of which (R1) is ∼12 km l…