Ground and marine magnetic surveys of the lower eastern flank of Etna volcano (Italy)

Abstract

In 1996 and 1997, two high-resolution magnetic surveys, one on land and the other at sea, were carried out on the lower eastern flank of Mount Etna. The magnetic surveys, covering an area of about 400 km2, aimed to elucidate the relationships between the main tectonic and morphologic features of this flank of Mount Etna. Major features include widespread NNW- and NNE-trending active faults and the Valle del Bove, a depression considered to be the source area of the Chiancone deposit, the largest Etnean volcaniclastic sequence. Magnetic surveys show anomalies that roughly follow the trend of active main structures. Although few magnetization measurements are available for the most representative outcrops of the lower eastern side of Mount Etna, interpretation of the anomalies defines the underground geometry of the Chiancone deposit and its relationship with volcano stratigraphic units and the underlying sedimentary rocks. In particular, a volume of about 14 km3 was ascribed to the Chiancone deposit. Such a large amount of material was likely produced by a catastrophic event, and deposited at different periods at the exit of the Valle del Bove in an area produced by the interaction, on a regional scale, of the main tectonic structures affecting this flank of the volcano.