Barde Cabusson, Stéphanie

Volcanic risk at Vesuvius is one of the highest in the world due to the ~670,000 inhabitants living in the Red Zone, the area exposed to both pyroclastic flows and tephra fallout, to be evacuated before renewal of any eruptive activity. The national emergency plan for Vesuvius builds its risk zonation on a scenario similar to the last sub-Plinian eruption, which occurred in 1631. This study aims at providing new insights on the geometry of the caldera associated with this historical eruption. The impact of past Vesuvius eruptions on present-day soil CO2 concentration has been investigated by means of an extended geochemical survey carried out for identifying the circulation pathways of hydrothermal fluids inside the volcano. We performed 4,018 soil CO2 concentration measurements over the whole Somma-Vesuvius volcanic complex, covering an area of 50 km2. Besides relatively low values, the results show a significant spatial CO2 concentration heterogeneity over Somma-Vesuvius ranging from the atmospheric value (~400 ppm) up to ~24,140 ppm. The summit of Vesuvius shows an area with anomalous CO2 concentrations well matching the crater rim of the 1906 eruption. Along the cone flanks, secondary CO2 anomalies highlight a roughly circular preferential pathway detected along 8 radial profiles at distances between ~840 m and ~1,150 m from the bottom of the present-day crater resulting from the last eruption in 1944. In depth review of the available literature highlights an agreement between this circle-like shaped anomaly and the 1631 sub-Plinian eruption caldera boundary. Indeed, based on the historical chronicles the depression produced by the 1631 eruption had a diameter of 1,686 m, whereas the CO2 circular anomaly indicates a diameter of 1,956 m. Finally, the results were compared with a 3-D density model obtained from a recent gravity survey that corroborates both the literature and the CO2 data in terms of potential buried structure at the base of the Vesuvius cone.

Although it is relatively easy to set-up, the monitoring of soil temperature in sub-fumarolic areas is quite rarely used to monitor the evolution of hydrothermal systems. Indeed, measurements are highly sensitive to environmental conditions, in particular daily and seasonal variations of atmospheric temperatures and rainfalls, which can be only partially filtered by the established statistical analysis. In this paper, we develop two innovative processingmethods, both based on the computation of the heat flux in the soil. The upward heat flux method (UHF), designed for dry environments, consists in computing both the conductive and convective components of the heat flux between two thermocouples placed vertically. In the cases of wet environments, the excess of total heat method (ETH) allows the integration of rain gauges data in order to correct the heat balance fromthe superficial cooling effect of the precipitations. The performances of both processing techniques are faced to established methods (temperature gradient and coefficient of determination) on soil temperature time series from two test volcanoes. At La Fossa di Vulcano (Italy), the UHF method undoubtedly detects three thermal crises between 2009 and 2012, enabling to quantify not only the intensity but also the precise timing of the heat flux increase with respect to corresponding geochemical and seismic crises. At La Soufrière de Guadeloupe (French Lesser Antilles), despite large rainfalls dramatically influencing the thermal behavior of the soil, a constant geothermal heat flux is retrieved by the ETH method, confirming the absence of fumarolic crisis during the observation period (February–August 2010). Being quantitative, robust, and usable in almost any context of sub-fumarolic zones, our two heat flux-based methods increase the potential of soil temperature for the monitoring, but also the general interpretation of fumarolic crises together with geochemical and seismological observations. A spreadsheet allowing direct computation of UHF and ETH is provided as supplemental material.

Three 2-D Deep Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) transects, up to 6.36 km long, were obtained across the Paganica-San Demetrio Basin, bounded by the 2009 L’Aquila Mw 6.1 normal-faulting earthquake causative fault (central Italy). The investigations allowed defining for the first time the shallow subsurface basin structure. The resistivity images, and their geological interpretation, showa dissected Mesozoic-Tertiary substratum buried under continental infill of mainly Quaternary age due to the long-term activity of the Paganica-San Demetrio normal faults system (PSDFS), ruling the most recent deformational phase. Our results indicate that the basin bottom deepens up to 600 m moving to the south, with the continental infill largely exceeding the known thickness of the Quaternary sequence. The causes of this increasing thickness can be: (1) the onset of the continental deposition in the southern sector took place before the Quaternary, (2) there was an early stage of the basin development driven by different fault systems that produced a depocentre in the southern sector not related to the present-day basin shape, or (3) the fault system slip rate in the southern sector was faster than in the northern sector. We were able to gain sights into the long-term PSDFS behaviour and evolution, by comparing throw rates at different timescales and discriminating the splays that lead deformation. Some fault splays exhibit large cumulative throws (>300 m) in coincidence with large displacement of the continental deposits sequence (>100 m), thus testifying a general persistence in time of their activity as leading splays of the fault system. We evaluate the long-term (3–2.5Myr) cumulative and Quaternary throw rates of most of the leading splays to be 0.08–0.17 mm yr−1, indicating a substantial stability of the faults activity. Among them, an individual leading fault splay extends from Paganica to San Demetrio ne’ Vestini as a result of a post-Early Pleistocene linkage of two smaller splays. This 15 km long fault splay can explain the Holocene surface ruptures observed to be larger than those occurred during the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake, such as revealed by palaeoseismological investigations. Finally, the architecture of the basin at depth suggests that the PSDFS can also rupture a longer structure at the surface, allowing earthquakes larger than M 6.5, besides rupturing only small sections, as it occurred in 2009.

Detecting volcanic unrest is of primary importance for eruption forecasting, especially on volcanoes characterized by highly dangerous, and often seemingly unpredictable, phreatic or phreatomagmatic eruptions. We present a simple and innovative analysis of shallow vertical temperature profiles to depths of 70 cm. These data were recorded at La Fossa cone of Vulcano (Aeolian Islands, Italy), during an episode of increased hydrothermal and seismic activities that occurred between September and December 2009. This work involves the use of the coefficient of determination (R-2) on vertical temperature profiles in order to identify changes in conductive versus convective heat transfer modality. The increase in convective heat transfer can be related to the disruption of the hydrothermal system due to its pressurization and/or variation of ground permeability between the hydrothermal system and the surface. While raw temperature data do not evidence any significant variation during the period investigated and the classic temperature gradient is highly influenced by seasonal variations, the fluctuation of R-2 displayed striking spikes that coincided with the seismic swarm inside the volcanic edifice. Such a low-cost device associated with easy real-time data processing could constitute a very promising, yet deceptively simple, technique to monitor hydrothermal systems, in order to assess the hazard posed by high-energy eruptions for populations living close to active volcanoes.

An extensive self-potential survey was carried out in the central volcanic complex of Tenerife Island (Canary Islands, Spain). A total amount of ~237 kmof profileswith 20 mspacing betweenmeasurementswas completed, including radial profiles extending from the summits of Teide and Pico Viejo, and circular profiles inside and around Las Cañadas caldera and the northern slopes of Teide and Pico Viejo. One of themain results of this mapping is the detection ofwell-developed hydrothermal systemswithin the edifices of Teide and Pico Viejo, and also associated with the flank satellite M. Blanca and M. Rajada volcanoes. A strong structural control of the surface manifestation of these hydrothermal systems is deduced from the data, pointing to the subdivision of Teide and Pico Viejo hydrothermal systems in three zones: summit crater, upper and lower hydrothermal systems. Self-potential maxima related to hydrothermal activity are absent from the proximal parts of the NE and NW rift zones as well as from at least two of the mafic historical eruptions (Chinyero and Siete Fuentes), indicating that long-lived hydrothermal systems have developed exclusively over relatively shallow felsic magma reservoirs. Towards Las Cañadas caldera floor and walls, the influence of the central hydrothermal systems disappears and the self-potential signal is controlled by the topography, the distance to thewater table of Las Cañadas aquifer and its geometry. Nevertheless, fossil or remanent hydrothermal activity at some points along the Caldera wall, especially around the Roques de García area, is also suggested by the data. Self-potential data indicate the existence of independent groundwater systems in the three calderas of Ucanca, Guajara and Diego Hernández, with a funnel shaped negative anomaly in the Diego Hernández caldera floor related to the subsurface topography of the caldera bottom. Two other important self-potential features are detected: positive values towards the northwestern Santiago rift, possibly due to the relatively high altitude of the water-table in this area; and a linear set ofminima to thewest of Pico Viejo, aligned with the northwestern rift and related to meteoricwater infiltration along its fracture system.

To gain a better insight of the hydrogeology and the location of the main tectonic faults of Stromboli volcano in Italy, we collected electrical resistivity measurements, soil CO2 concentrations, temperature and self-potential measurements along two profiles. These two profiles started at the village of Ginostra in the southwest part of the island. The first profile (4.8 km in length) ended up at the village of Scari in the north east part of the volcano and the second one (3.5 km in length) at Forgia Vecchia beach, in the eastern part of the island. These data were used to provide insights regarding the position of shallow aquifers and the extension of the hydrothermal system. This large-scale study is complemented by two high-resolution studies, one at the Pizzo area (near the active vents) and one at Rina Grande where flank collapse areas can be observed. The Pizzo corresponds to one of the main degassing structure of the hydrothermal system. The main degassing area is localized along a higher permeability area corresponding to the head of the gliding plane of the Rina Grande sector collapse. We found that the self-potential data reveal the position of an aquifer above the villages of Scari and San Vincenzo. We provide an estimate of the depth of this aquifer from these data. The lateral extension of the hydrothermal system (resistivity ∼15–60 ohm m) is broader than anticipated extending in the direction of the villages of Scari and San Vincenzo (in agreement with temperature data recorded in shallow wells). The lateral extension of the hydrothermal system reaches the lower third of the Rina Grande sector collapse area in the eastern part of the island. The hydrothermal body in this area is blocked by an old collapse boundary. This position of the hydrothermal body is consistent with low values of the magnetization (<2.5 A m−1) from previously published work. The presence of the hydrothermal body below Rina Grande raises questions about the mechanical stability of this flank of the edifice.

On March 15th 2007 a paroxysmal explosion occurred at the Stromboli volcano. This event generated a large amount of products,mostly lithic blocks, someofwhich impacted the ground as far as down to 200 m a.s.l., about 1.5 kmfaraway fromthe active vents. Two days after the explosion, a newvapouremissionwas discovered on the north-eastern flank of the volcanic edifice, at 560 m a.s.l., just above the area called “Nel Cannestrà”. This new vapour emission was due to a block impact. In order to investigate the block impact area to understand the appearance of the vapour emission, we conducted on May 2008 a multidisciplinary study involving Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Self-Potential (SP), CO2 soil diffuse degassing and soil temperature surveys. This complementary data set revealed the presence of an anomalous conductive body, probably related to a shallow hydrothermal level, at about 10–15 m depth, more or less parallel to the topography. It is the first time that such a hydrothermal fluid flow,with a temperature close to thewater boiling point (76 °C) has been evidenced at Stromboli at this low elevation on the flank of the edifice. The ERT results suggest a possible link between (1) the main central hydrothermal system of Stromboli, located just above the plumbing system feeding the active vents, with a maximum of subsurface soil temperature close to 90 °C and limited by the NeoStromboli summit crater boundary and (2) the investigated area of Nel Cannestrà, at ~500 m a.s.l., a buried eruptive fissure active 9 ka ago. In parallel, SP and CO2 soil diffuse degassingmeasurements suggest in this sector at slightly lower elevation fromthe block impact crater a magmatic and hydrothermal fluid rising system along the N41° regional fault. A complementary ERT profile, on May 2009, carried out from the NeoStromboli crater boundary downto the block impact crater displayed a flank fluid flowapparently connected to a deeper system. The concept of shallow hydrothermal level have been compared to similar ERT results recently obtained onMount Etna and La Fossa cone of Vulcano. This information needs to be taken into account in general fluid flow models on volcanoes. In particular, peripheral thermal waters (as those bordering the northeastern coast of Stromboli) could be contaminated by hydrothermal and magmatic fluids coming from regional faults but also from the summit.

Electric resistivity tomography (ERT), self-potential (SP), soil CO2 flux, and temperature are used to study the inner structure of La Fossa cone (Vulcano, Aeolian Islands). Nine profiles were performed across the cone with a measurement spacing of 20 m. The crater rims of La Fossa cone are underlined by sharp horizontal resistivity contrasts. SP, CO2 flux, and temperature anomalies underline these boundaries which we interpret as structural limits associated to preferential circulation of fluids. The Pietre Cotte crater and Gran Cratere crater enclose the main hydrothermal system, identified at the centre of the edifice on the base of low electrical resistivity values (b20 Ω m) and strong CO2 degassing, SP, and temperature anomalies. In the periphery, the hydrothermal activity is also visible along structural boundaries such as the Punte Nere, Forgia Vecchia, and Palizzi crater rims and at the base of the cone, on the southern side of the edifice, along a fault attributed to the NW main tectonic trend of the island. Inside the Punte Nere crater, the ERT sections show an electrical resistive body that we interpret as an intrusion or a dome. This magmatic body is reconstructed in 3D using the available ERT profiles. Its shape and position, with respect to the Pietre Cotte crater fault, allows replacing this structure in the chronology of the development of the volcano. It corresponds to a late phase of activity of the Punte Nere edifice. Considering the position of the SP, soil CO2 flux, and temperature maxima and the repartition of conductive zones related to hydrothermal circulation with respect to the main structural features, La Fossa cone could be considered as a relevant example of the strong influence of preexisting structures on hydrothermal fluid circulation at the scale of a volcanic edifice.