Lupi, Matteo

North-east Java is part of a large sedimentary basin containing hydrocarbon provinces that feature diffuse hydrothermal systems, mud volcanoes, and degassing sites. Seismic profiles acquired to explore the basin reveal a broad distribution of palaeo- and modern piercement structures. The Watukosek fault system links the volcanic arc, to the south, with the Sidoarjo province, to the north. Several piercement structures, including the Kalang Anyar mud volcano, are hosted along this left-lateral strike-slip system that favors the migration of crustal fluids in this part of the basin. Here, we present a multidisciplinary geological, geophysical and geochemical study conducted at Kalang Anyar where dozens of seepage sites are active in the crater area and intermittently emit bursts oil, gas, mud, and water. The emitted gasses are methane-dominated with smaller amounts of heavier hydrocarbons and CO2. Unlike most mud volcanoes, at Kalang Anyar the mixed-thermogenic origin of the methane is coupled with geothermal anomalies, as indicated by helium and CO2 isotopic values (δ13CCO2 as high as −4‰) that suggest the input of mantle-derived gas. Our gas flux measurements reveal that Kalang Anyar emits about 1.62 and 5.75 t yr−1 of CO2 and CH4, respectively. The intense bubbling gives rise to a typical drumbeat seismic signal characterized by dominant frequencies around of 3–4 Hz (and up to 15 Hz). We interpret the drumbeat as fluids rising and resonating through shallow plumbing system of Kalang Anyar. Erupted clasts with different lithologies and shells are scattered across the mud volcano area, while the edges of the crater zone include cubic meter-sized carbonate-cemented blocks and ridges that contain siliciclastic sediments and abundant chemosymbiotic bivalves. Carbon isotope analyses of the carbonate cement (δ13C as low as −48.8‰) identify the latter as methanogenic chemoherms. Radiocarbon (14C) dating of bivalves cemented in the blocks indicates an age of 1890-1488 BP. These results indicate that the activity of Kalang Anyar MV dates from when the area was below sea level and that the microbially-mediated precipitation of carbonates was ongoing during subaqueous methane seepage at the crater site. To the best of our knowledge, Kalang Anyar is the first example of a mud volcano that progressed from subaqueous to subaerial conditions during marine regression, displaying evidence of former marine activity (i.e. methanogenic carbonates) and current subaerial degassing at numerous seepage sites. Potentially eruptive phases represent a clear geohazard for the numerous settlements constructed inside the mud volcano. In light of this, it may be prudent to apply stricter rules for development activities, such as housing construction permits that consider the possibility of potentially catastrophic events, and apply steps to mitigate these hazards.

The Dead Sea Fault (DSF) is a crustal-scale continental transform fault separating the African and the Arabian plates. Neogene to Quaternary volcanic activity is well-spread in Northern Israel. Yet, the origin of the magmas that fed the eruptions is still unpinned. Our local earthquake tomography depicts velocity distributions typical of rifting settings. At 9 km depth, a prominent high Vp/Vs anomaly marks the presence of cooling melts. We propose that protracted transtension along the DSF caused crustal thinning promoting the emplacement of magmatic bodies. Crustal emplacements of magmas in Northern Israel reconcile multiple observations, including the high geothermal gradient, the prominent magnetic anomalies and the traces of mantle-derived fluids in the springs across the Sea of Galilee. We provide a compelling evidence for rifting in segments of the DSF and identify the potential source of magmatism that fed part of the volcanic activity of the area.

Mud volcanoes are rapidly-evolving geological phenomena characterized by the surface expulsion of sediments and fluids from over-pressurized underlying reservoirs. We investigate the Nirano Mud Volcano, Northern Italy, with seismic methods to better understand the dynamic evolution of the system and shed light on its subsurface structure. Our study allowed to detect and characterize three different types of high-frequency drumbeat signals that are present in the most active part of the mud volcano plumbing system. With a back-projection method based on the cross-correlation envelope of signals recorded at different station pairs, we can determine the source location of the drumbeats. These coincide with the location of V/H (vertical-to-horizontal) amplitude peaks obtained from an ambient vibration profile and resistivity anomalies identified in a previous study. We observe that the drumbeats are P-wave dominated signals, with characteristics similar to those found in magmatic settings, i.e. LPs (long-period signals). We suggest that such tremors originate from the migration of mud and gas inside the mud volcanic conduits. The source location, waveform and frequency content of the drumbeats evolve over time. We found that drumbeat occurrence is directly linked with morphological changes at surface.

East Java is characterised by a complex interaction of volcanic and tectonic processes and it is marked by isolated eruptive centres scattered across the back-arc sedimentary basins. In 2006 a large sediment hosted geothermal system named Lusi, pierced the Kendeng basin in East Java and since then it continues in a relentless eruption of mud breccia. To investigate the spatial and structural relationships between the volcanic arc and the back-arc domains, we perform a local earthquake tomography. The inversion of regional earthquakes recorded by our seismic network (for about two years) shows sharp Vp and Vp/Vs transitions. We observe a marked reduction of P-wave velocities and a high Vp/Vs ratio in the back-arc basins. Our study highlights a clear connection between the plumbing system of the volcanic arc and the northern sedimentary province. We propose a conceptual model suggesting that magmas and hydrothermal fluids may migrate from the middle to the upper crust into the sedimentary basins capitalising on existing thrust faults. Such low angle faults, promoted by the compressional regime of the region, link the magmatic domain to the northern sedimentary provinces. This process may represent the early phase of volcanic arc migration when magma-derived fluids are focused into fractured and permeable geological structures. Our conceptual model would not only help to understand the occurrence of the abundant mantle-derived fluids sampled across the back-arc, but it is also consistent with the occurrence of isolated magmatic and hybrid systems piercing across sedimentary environments in the back-arc of Java.

Lusi is a sediment-hosted geothermal system relentlessly erupting since May 2006 in the East Java back-arc sedimentary basin. Lusi provides the unprecedented opportunity to study the development of the early phases of a new-born piercement structure and its impact on society. In order to investigate the shallow plumbing system of this large-scale eruption, we deployed a pool of 25 IRIS V-Fullwavers to conduct a 3D deep electrical resistivity tomography extending over ∼15 km2 around the eruption site. The inverted data reveal the structure of the subsided area hosting the region where a mix of groundwater, mud breccia, hydrocarbons and boiling hydrothermal fluids are stored. Our investigation also points out the link between a well-developed fault system and the upwelling of the deep-seated fluids that initiated, and still drive, the development of the new-born Lusi eruption.

We provide the first 3-D resistivity image of the Pian Grande di Castelluccio basin, the main Quaternary depocenter in the hangingwall of the Mt.Vettore–Mt. Bove normal fault system (VBFS), responsible for the October 30, 2016 Mw 6.5 Norcia earthquake (central Italy). The subsurface structure of the basin is poorly known, and its relation with the VBFS remains debated. Using the recent Fullwaver technology, we carried out a high-resolution 2-D transect crossing the 2016 coseismic ruptures coupled with an extensive 3-D survey with the aim of: (a) mapping the subsurface of the basin-bounding splays of the VBFS and the downdip extent of intrabasin faults; (b) imaging the infill and pre-Quaternary substratum down to ∼1 km depth. The 2-D resistivity section highlights under the coseismic ruptures a main dip-slip fault zone with conjugated splays. The 3-D resistivity model suggests that the basin consists of two depocenters (∼300 and ∼600 m deep, respectively) filled with silty sands and gravels (resistivity <300 Ωm), bounded and cross-cut by NNE-, WNW-, and NNW-trending faults with throws of ∼200–400 m. We hypothesize that the NNE-trending system acted during the early basin development, followed by NNW-trending and currently active splays of the VBFS that overprint pre-existing structures and locally control the infill architecture. Moreover, beneath the basin we detect a shallow NW-dipping blind fault. The latter is likely a hangingwall splay of the adjacent regional Mts. Sibillini Thrust, which may have been partly involved in the rupture process of the Norcia mainshock.

The Sea of Galilee in northeast Israel is a freshwater lake filling a morphological depression along the Dead Sea Fault. It is located in a tectonically complex area, where a N-S main fault system intersects secondary fault patterns non-univocally interpreted by previous reconstructions. A set of multiscale geophysical, geochemical and seismological data, reprocessed or newly collected, was analysed to unravel the interplay between shallow tectonic deformations and geodynamic processes. The result is a neotectonic map highlighting major seismogenic faults in a key region at the boundary between the Africa/Sinai and Arabian plates. Most active seismogenic displacement occurs along NNW-SSE oriented transtensional faults. This results in a left-lateral bifurcation of the Dead Sea Fault forming a rhomb-shaped depression we named the Capharnaum Trough, located off-track relative to the alleged principal deformation zone. Low-magnitude (ML = 3-4) epicentres accurately located during a recent seismic sequence are aligned along this feature, whose activity, depth and regional importance is supported by geophysical and geochemical evidence. This case study, involving a multiscale/multidisciplinary approach, may serve as a reference for similar geodynamic settings in the world, where unravelling geometric and kinematic complexities is challenging but fundamental for reliable earthquake hazard assessments.

Large-scale concentric structures are enigmatic geological features observed on the Earth surface and on other planetary bodies. Their formation has been attributed to several processes. Here we describe for the first time the results of mapping and characterization of∼100 large concentric circular structures found in Early Cenomanian argillaceousstrataoftheBahariyadepression(EgyptianWesternDesert).Thegeological processes that lead to the formation of these features have remained so far elusive. We investigate the concentric structures with a multidisciplinary approach combining field observations, statistical analysis, soil-flux gas measurements and laboratory analyses of rock samples. The whole depression is dissected by the ∼90 km long N60◦E-striking dextral strike-slip Bahariya fault. Effusive lavas and shallow intrusions crop out in the down faulted blocks. The mapped circular structures increase in number approaching the fault zone. These features are up to 10 m high and 625 m wide, have a morphology similar in shape to impact craters with steeper external flanks and a gently dipping internal subsided zone. Halite-cemented brecciated sediments from different geological units have been sampled in the central part of the concentric circular structures implying a subsurface mechanism involved in their formation. Petrography analyses revealed also the presence of high- and low-temperature minerals (e.g., Ba-K-feldspars and ferroaluminoceladonite) suggesting former phases of hydrothermal circulation. Soil-gas fluxprofiles(CO2 andCH4)revealamodestCO2 increasewhencrossingthecentralpart of the circular structures inferring enhanced permeability. Field and laboratory data are consistent with a scenario envisaging a diffused and vigorous hydrothermal venting. The proposed scenario includes multiple phases where several geological elements and processes interact. The Bahariya fault, which activity initiated during the Late Cretaceous, provided pathways for Miocene magma ascent toward the surface and for the development of a network of subsurface intrusions in the organic-rich sedimentary rocks of the Bahariya Formation. The interaction of the igneous intrusions with carbonrich sedimentary deposits produced overpressured fluids, causing the formation of sparse hydrothermal vents at the surface. The elongation of the main axis of the vents and the deformed structures located within the strike-slip zone suggest that faulting controlled the emplacement and the final shape of some of the hydrothermal vents. We speculate that this system may represent a palaeo sediment-hosted hydrothermal system and could be related to the opening of the Red Sea,

Little is known about the processes taking place in new-born hydrothermal systems.We investigate the eruptive activity of Lusi, a sediment-hosted hydrothermal system active since 2006 in East Java, Indonesia. We show that superimposed on the regular geysering activity, Lusi features periods of enhanced hydrothermal processes during which boiling mud breccia is violently discharged from the eruptive vents. This results in sudden flooding lasting from several minutes to several hours and featuring almost instantaneous temperature peaks (i.e. from 35 °C to more than 65 °C in less than 2 min). Such activity (here named hydrothermal waves) is marked by high-frequency seismic radiations and is distinguished by sharp peaks of CH4 and CO2 concentrations in the erupted fluids. This suggests fluids upwelling from at least tents of meters below the near-surface. The injection into the shallow plumbing system of CH4- and CO2-rich batches of fluids may promote instabilities in the mudbreccia column leading to the hydrothermal waves. Our findings provide key insights into the deep charging dynamics of a new-born hydrothermal system and highlight the effects imposed by subtle variations in fluid-chemistry changes at depth.

An extensive survey was carried out in the Sidoarjo district (East Java, Indonesia) to investigate the gas leaking properties along fractured zones coinciding with a strike-slip system, the Watukosek Fault System (WFS) in NE Java. This structure has been the focus of attention since the beginning of the spectacular Lusi mud eruption on the 29th May 2006. The sinistral strike-slip WFS originates from the Arjuno-Welirang volcanic complex, intersects the active Lusi eruption site displaying a system of antithetic faults, and extends towards the NE of Java where mud volcanic structures reside. In the Lusi region we completed a geochemical survey along three profiles combining measurements of a) 220Rn and 222Rn activity, b) CO2 and CH4 soil gas content, c) CO2 and CH4 fluxes, and d) gas analyses. The profiles are up to ~1.2 km long and intersect perpendicularly areas with intense fracturing and surface deformation along the WFS. The purpose was to investigate the presence and origin of soil degassing activity in potentially active fault zones. Results show that the peripheral sectors of the profiles have high 220Rn activity and reduced CO2 and CH4 fluxes and concentrations. This suggests low fluids migration that could be affected by shallow circulation. In contrast, the segments of profiles intersecting the fractured zones have the highest 222Rn activity, CO2 and CH4 flux and gas concentration values. The relationship existing among the measured parameters suggests that the WFS acts as a preferential pathway for active rise of deep fluids. The presence of such advective processes is suggested by the relatively high rate of migration needed to obtain anomalies of short-lived 222Rn in the soil pores. Gas molecular and isotopic composition reveals that all sampled localities have a mixed hydrocarbon origin implying the presence of shallow microbial and deeper thermogenic hydrocarbons. CO2 isotopic values (d13C-CO2 ranges between -9.48‰ and 4.12‰ V-PDB) indicate the presence of mantle derived CO2 and thermo-metamorphic CO2 suggesting that elevated temperatures have a key role in this active system. The samples collected from fractured and faulted zones reveal to have gas composition similar to that obtained from Lusi crater, indicating deep origin fluids.