Looking inside mt. vesuvius

Abstract

Italy's Mt.Vesuvius has been slumbering for a long time, but its silence could preface an eruption with potentially disastrous ef­fects for 600,000 people living on the vol­cano's slopes. To assess the scenario of the next eruption, the National Group of Vol-canology (GNV) of the Italian National Coun­cil of Researches (CNR) has fostered research aimed at mitigating eruption risk to the densely populated area. In this framework, researchers have gathered high-resolution seismic tomography data to better under­stand the internal structure of Mt. Vesuvius. The experiments were carried out during the last 4 years. The data will be used in three-dimen­sional modeling of the structure of Mt. Vesu­vius and underlying upper crust. Seismic velocities and attenuation and density con­trasts will be calculated, with special empha­sis on the delineation of significant magma reservoirs of more than 1 km in diameter. In modeling Mt. Vesuvius, tools are being devel­oped for using seismogram information to ob­tain high-quality seismic imaging of heterogeneous structures such as volcanoes