Tracking the summit activity of Mt. Etna volcano between July 2019 and January 2020 by integrating petrological and geophysical data

Abstract

The evolution of volcanic activity observed at the New South East Crater (NSEC) and Voragine (VOR) between July 2019 and January 2020 has been deciphered by taking into account the changes of textures and chemical zoning of plagioclase and olivine crystals from the erupted lavas and tephra. The petrological observations have been integrated with analyses of the amplitude and source location of volcanic tremor and infrasound data. Characteristics of crystals erupted on July 2019 at the NSEC reflect protracted intrusions of magma into the mid-upper section of the plumbing system, approximately within 290–120 MPa, which acted as the main zone of magma accumulation and crystallization before the beginning of the eruptive activity. Textures and compositions of crystals erupted at VOR emphasize the beginning of volcanic activity driven by recharge/discharge phases that mostly affect the shallowest portion of the Mt. Etna plumbing system (<40 MPa). At the end of 2019, mineral compositions and zoning patterns changed again in accordance with eruption dynamics. The observed changes reflect the transition from an early phase, between November and December 2019, characterized by substantial equilibrium during magma storage and transport toward higher disequilibrium conditions and eruptive frequency, in January 2020. This has been associated to episodes of deep replenishment of mafic magmas displacing the resident one. Diffusion chronometry applied to zoned olivines shows that most of the episodes of magma intrusion correlate temporally with changes in the features of both volcanic tremor and infrasonic events in terms of amplitude and source location, providing evidence that such geophysical signals are directly related to the magma dynamics in the upper plumbing system.