The Mt. Moio eruption (Etna): Stratigraphy, petrochemistry and 40Ar/39Ar age determination with inferences on the relationship between structural setting and magma intrusion

Abstract

Mt. Moio is the most peripheral scoria cone of Etna volcano and rises above the Peloritani Mountains sedimentary basement, 18 km north of the volcano summit.

Geological and tephrostratigraphic studies and 40Ar/39Ar age determinations were used to characterize the eruption and constrain its occurrence to ~ 29 ka ago, during the activity of the Ellittico volcano, the volcanic edifice active before the actual one, the Mongibello volcano.

The Mt. Moio eruption formed a large scoria cone and a widespread tephra fallout deposit, indicating that vigorous explosive activity produced an eruptive plume; minor effusive activity produced a small lava flow at the end of the eruption. Geochemical data indicate that the composition of erupted magma became less evolved during the eruption (mugearite → basalt–hawaiite); thus Mt. Moio deposits have been divided into Lower and Upper Sequences characterized by similar depositional facies. Based on the classification of Etna flank eruptions available in the literature, Mt. Moio can be classed as an eccentric (sensu Rittmann) and Class B eruption. Historic flank eruptions (e.g. 1669, 1763, 2001, 2002–03) formed deposits that are petrochemically and stratigraphically similar to those of Mt. Moio. The general trend of the Mt. Moio eruptive fissure corresponds to that of extensional neotectonic lineaments in the Apenninic–Maghrebian Chain, indicating that the structure of the basement played a role in controlling the ascent of the volatile-rich magma during Ellittico volcano activity.