Converted phases analysis of the Campi Flegrei caldera using active seismic data

Abstract

We applied a type of depth migration for converted seismic phases to active and passive seismic data sets from the Campi Flegrei volcanic region in southern Italy. The migration method is based on the diffraction summation migration technique. Travel times to grid points in a volume were calculated in smooth P and S-velocity models and trace energy near the calculated converted phase time was stacked over multiple sources at one receiver. Weighting factors based on Snell's Law at an arbitrarily oriented local interface were applied to better focus trace energy. PP reflection images from the active data set provide increased detail to images of the caldera rim from other studies. The migrated images also show features near 2–3 km in depth beneath Pozzuoli City, which may be associated with an over-pressured gas volume, as suggested by other geophysical investigations. Possible deeper features near 4 km depth may be related to the presence of the carbonate basement or may image a previously undetected feature, such as a small body of strongly thermometamorphosed volcanic rock. The current passive earthquake data set from the 1984 ground uplift episode was not well suited to the converted phases analysis due to narrow P–S windows and high noise levels in the traces. However, two stations provide confirmation and extension of imaged features in the active data.