First observations of non-volcanic, long-period seismicity in the Central Apennines, Italy

Abstract

We report unprecedented observations of long-period (LP) seismicity in non-volcanic setting. Our data are from the Central-Northern sector of the Apennine chain, Italy. For this area, intense CO2 circulation of mantle origin has been documented by either groundwater composition and borehole measurements. We perform waveform correlation and stacking to obtain reliable epicenter estimates. Following Chouet's crack model, we find that both the quality factor and dominant frequency of LP oscillations are consistent with the sustained resonance of a wet crack filled by a water-CO2 mixture.