[ad_1]
Posted on 25 Apr 2019
Scientists have used the sound of the sea to discover the route, the way of food, borrowed by the hot fluids that feed the Campi Flegrei supervolcan in southern Italy. Using an innovative technique that uses "snoring" – or seismic noise – waves crashing on the coastline of Campi Flegrei, scientists have produced a seismic image of the deeper structure of the volcano that reveals the main pathway that drives the hot fluids on the surface.
Their research appeared in a documentary entitled "The Next Pompeii" on Nova, a well-known scientific series about the great American broadcaster PBS. The documentary highlights the innovative scientific techniques used to monitor Campi Flegrei – a volcanic caldera west of Naples that erupted five centuries ago.
The region has been relatively calm since the 1980s, when the injection of volcanic materials into the shallower structure of the volcano caused thousands of small earthquakes, followed by 38 years of relative silence.
"The tempting link between volcanoes and extraterrestrial life in the outer solar system" – Today's Space Header
Seismic imagery is one of the main methods used by scientists to accurately map the structure of a deep volcano. However, the low level of seismic activity in the region for nearly four decades has left the internal structure of Campi Flegrei so far mysterious.
The "feeding route" discovered by the scientists would have been formed during the last seismic activity in the 1980s and would convey volcanic materials from the depths of the volcano at sea.
The material then climbs and follows the roads established under the volcano towards the fumaroles of Solfatara and Pisciarelli – located approximately in the center of the caldera – where they are expelled in vapor form by ventilation holes (image above).
Seismology teachers Luca De Siena, Carmelo Sammarco and David Cornwell led the study at the School of Geosciences at the University of Aberdeen. They worked alongside the Vesuvius Observatory (Mount Vesuvius Caldera at the top of the page), which informs the Italian Government's Department of Civil Protection of the threat posed by volcanic activity in the region.
Professor De Siena, now at the University of Mainz, said: "By using noise at the seaside to create a seismic image, we finally have a better idea of how volcanic materials are moving from depths of the volcano up to the surface ",
"This is the first time that this relatively new technique is being used in a highly populated area. It shows us that the food route created in the early 1980s seems fully functional in 2011-2013, when we collected the data.
The supervolcan eruptions of Yellowstone over the 16 million years – "created by a huge oceanic plate"
"This is important because it improves our understanding of the character of the volcano, which could possibly improve surveillance and early warning procedures in a region inhabited by millions of people."
The Daily Galaxy via the University of Aberdeen
Pool magma credit image Campi Flegrei: thanks to Rivistanatura.com
[ad_2]
Source link