Cantarero, Massimo

On 21 May 2023, a hidden eruption occurred at the Southeast Crater (SEC) of Etna (Italy); indeed, bad weather prevented its direct and remote observation. Tephra fell toward the southwest, and two lava flows propagated along the SEC’s southern and eastern flanks. The monitoring system of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia testified to its occurrence. We analyzed the seismic and infrasound signals to constrain the temporal evolution of the fountain, which lasted about 5 h. We finally reached Etna’s summit two weeks later and found an unexpected pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposit covering the southern lava flow at its middle portion. We performed unoccupied aerial system and field surveys to reconstruct in 3D the SEC, lava flows, and PDC deposits and to collect some samples. The data allowed for detailed mapping, quantification, and characterization of the products. The resulting lava flows and PDC deposit volumes were (1.54 ± 0.47) × 106 m3 and (1.30 ± 0.26) × 105 m3, respectively. We also analyzed ground-radar and satellite data to evaluate that the plume height ranges between 10 and 15 km. This work is a comprehensive analysis of the fieldwork, UAS, volcanic tremor, infrasound, radar, and satellite data. Our results increase awareness of the volcanic activity and potential dangers for visitors to Etna’s summit area.

Volcanic hazards associated with lava flows advancing on snow cover are often underrated, although sudden explosions related to different processes of lava-snow/ice contact can occur rapidly and are only preceded by small, easily underrated precursors. On 16 March 2017, during a mildly effusive and explosive eruption at Mount Etna, Italy, a slowly advancing lava lobe interacted with the snow cover to produce a sudden, brief sequence of explosions. White vapor, brown ash, and coarse material were suddenly ejected, and the products struck a group of people, injuring some of them. The proximal deposit formed a continuous mantle of ash, lapilli, and decimeter-sized bombs, while the ballistic material travelled up to 200 m from the lava edge. The deposit was estimated to have a mass of 7.1 ± 0.8 × 104 kg, which corresponds to a volume of 32.0 ± 3.6 m3 of lava being removed by the explosion. Data related to the texture and morphology of the ejected clasts were used to constrain a model of lava-snow interaction. The results suggest that the mechanism causing the explosions was the progressive build-up of pressure due to vapor accumulation under the lava flow, while no evidence was found for the occurrence of fuel-coolant interaction processes. Although these low-intensity explosions are not particularly frequent, the data set collected provides, for the first time, quantitative information about the processes involved and the associated hazard and suggests that mitigation measures should be established to prevent potentially dramatic accidents at worldwide volcanoes frequented by tourists and with fairly easy access, such as Etna.

At active volcanoes recurring eruptive events, erosive processes and collapses modify the edifice morphology and impact monitoring and hazard mitigation. At Etna volcano (Italy) between February and October 2021, 57 paroxysmal events occurred from the South-East Crater (SEC), which is currently its most active summit crater. Strombolian activity and high lava fountains (up to 4 km) fed lava flows towards the east, south and south-west, and caused fallout of ballistics (greater than 1 m in diameter) within 1–2 km from the SEC. The impacted area does not include permanent infrastructure, but it is visited by thousands of tourists. Hence, we rapidly mapped each lava flow before deposits became covered by the next event, for hazard mitigation. The high frequency of the SEC paroxysms necessitated integration of data from three remote sensing platforms with different spatial resolutions. Satellite (Sentinel-2 MultiSpectral Instrument, PlanetScope, Skysat and Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager) and drone images (visible and thermal) were processed and integrated to extract digital surface models and orthomosaics. Thermal images acquired by a permanent network of cameras of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia were orthorectified using the latest available digital surface model. This multi-sensor analysis allowed compilation of a geodatabase reporting the main geometrical parameters for each lava flow. A posteriori analysis allowed quantification of bulk volumes for the lava flows and the SEC changes and of the dense rock equivalent volume of erupted magma. The analysis of drone-derived digital surface models enabled assessment of the ballistics’ distribution. The developed methodology enabled rapidly and accurate characterisation of frequently occurring effusive events for near real-time risk assessment and hazard communication.

Infrasound signals are used to investigate and monitor active volcanoes during eruptive and degassing activity. Infrasound amplitude information has been used to estimate eruptive parameters such as plume height, magma discharge rate, and lava fountain height. Active volcanoes are characterized by pronounced topography and, during eruptive activity, the topography can change rapidly, affecting the observed infrasound amplitudes. While the interaction of infrasonic signals with topography has been widely investigated over the past decade, there has been limited work on the impact of changing topography on the infrasonic amplitudes. In this work, the infrasonic signals accompanying 57 lava fountain paroxysms at Mt. Etna (Italy) during 2021 were analyzed. In particular, the temporal and spatial variations of the infrasound amplitudes were investigated. During 2021, significant changes in the topography around the most active crater (the South East Crater) took place and were reconstructed in detail using high resolution imagery from unoccupied aerial system surveys. Through analysis of the observed infrasound signals and numerical simulations of the acoustic wavefield, we demonstrate that the observed spatial and temporal variation in the infrasound signal amplitudes can largely be explained by the combined effects of changes in the location of the acoustic source and changes in the near-vent topography, together with source acoustic amplitude variations. This work demonstrates the importance of accurate source locations and high-resolution topographic information, particularly in the near-vent region where the topography is most likely to change rapidly and illustrates that changing topography should be considered when interpreting local infrasound observations over long time scales.

Infrasound is increasing applied as a tool to investigate magma dynamics at active volcanoes, especially at open-vent volcanoes, such as Mt. Etna (Italy), which are prodigious sources of infrasound. Harmonic infrasound signals have been used to constrain crater dimensions and track the movement of magma within the shallow plumbing system. This study interprets the remarkable systematic change in monotonic infrasound signals preceding a lava fountaining episode at Mt. Etna on 20 February 2021. We model the changing tones (0.7 to 3 Hz fundamental frequency) as a rise in the magma column from 172 ± 25 m below the crater rim to 78 ± 8 m over the course of 24 h. The infrasonic gliding disappears approximately 4 h before the onset of lava fountaining as the magma column approaches the flare of the crater and acoustic resonance is no longer supported. The featured 20 February event was just one of 52 lava fountain episodes that occurred at Mt. Etna over the course of 9 months in 2021 and was the only lava fountain episode where dramatic gliding was observed as a subsequent partial collapse of the crater prevented future resonance. The results presented here demonstrate that analysis of infrasonic gliding can be used to track the position of the magma free surface and hence may provide information on the processes taking place within the plumbing system before eruptive activity.

Etna volcano has four summit craters that are characterized by periodic strombolian and lava fountaining episodes, often associated with lava flows. In the last years, the most active was the South East Crater that on 2021 produced more than fifty paroxysms that gave rise to lava flows rapidly propagating towards East, South, and South-West. Etna summit area is visited by thousands of tourists, especially in the summertime, thus it is important to evaluate the hazard related to lava flow emplacement. For this reason, we were urged to timely map the lava flows emplaced during each paroxysm whose frequency was as high as two events in 24 hours. This task has been accomplished through the integration of different remote sensing techniques, based on data availability and weather conditions. Several satellite images (Sentinel-2 MSI, Aster, Ecostress, Skysat, Landsat-8 OLI and TIRS) allowed us to map the lava flow field at spatial resolutions from 0.7 to 90 meters. Unoccupied Aerial System (UAS) surveys also allowed to acquire visible and thermal images, with high-spatial resolution, of the lava flows. Finally, thermal images acquired from the permanent network of cameras, managed by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, were re-projected into the topography at 5-meter spatial resolution. The various remote sensing data enable the mapping of the lava flows and compiling a geodatabase that registers the main geometrical parameters (e.g. length, area, average thickness). The joint exploitation of remotesensing data acquired through multi-sensors enabled, for the first time on Etna, to timely and accurately characterize frequently occurred effusive events.

In this body of work, we showcase a historic virtual geotrail on the eastern flank of the iconic Mt. Etna volcano (Italy), along a series of outstanding geological sites and features subsequent to an important eruption that took place in 1928. A geohistoric account of such a major eruption, is of great interest, since it is the only event since 1669 to have caused the destruction of a town (Mascali) in the Etna region. Volcanologists, educators, the lay public, tourists and volcano explorers can now access a series of “virtual geostops” belonging to this virtual geotrail, such that “visitors” can virtually fly above these sites by scanning a QR code on the printed or electronic version of the present manuscript, as well as on the poster provided as additional material for this manuscript. The virtual geostops that comprise the virtual geotrail were developed using the structure-frommotion (SfM) photogrammetry technique from images captured by using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The main result of our work is the virtual geotrail, subdivided in two parts and composed of eight geostops, each showing outstanding examples of geological features resulting from volcanic phenomena that took place also during 1979. Our approach is designed to support classical field trips, and it can undoubtedly become complementary to traditional field teaching in earth sciences, both now and in the future.

Understanding the dynamics of mild explosive activity is a fundamental tool for hazard assessment at open conduit volcanoes. This is a particularly critical task for Etna volcano. Etna is in fact characterized by frequent, mild explosive activity, punctuated by lava flows and paroxysmal events (‘lava fountains’), which, because of their greater impact, have been the main target for hazard studies, whereas more frequent Strombolian activity has been overlooked. As a result, their impact and associated hazards have been never quantified, despite the extensive monitoring and surveillance activities carried out on this volcano. In this paper, we analyze video recordings of a sequence of Strombolian explosions occurring at the summit craters of Mt. Etna, in Italy, in February 2020. Data were also integrated with a petrographic analysis of collected samples, and drone surveys were performed at the same time as the video recordings. We estimate the frequency of explosions (20–12 per min); particle exit speeds (1–50 m/s), and erupted mass (100–102 kg) of those explosions. A very regular, small-scale activity (marked by a single burst of gas breaking the magma free surface into bombs and lapilli fragments) was occasionally punctuated by larger explosions, (at least one every 5 min), with a longer duration, fed by larger magma volumes, and consisting of two to three distinct pulses followed by a stationary phase. We found that the repose times between explosions follows a log logistic distribution, which is in agreement with the behavior of open vent explosive activity. The four largest explosions of the sequence were analyzed in detail:

At Mt. Etna (Italy), volcano-tectonic earthquakes produce impressive surface faulting despite their moderate magnitude (M < 5.5), with historically well-documented ruptures featuring end-to-end lengths up to 6–7 km. The 26 December 2018, Mw 5.0 earthquake represents the strongest event of the last 70 years, with ground ruptures extending for 7.5 km along the Fiandaca fault, a partially hidden structure in the volcano's eastern flank. Field data collected by the EMERGEO Working Group (INGV) are here integrated with high-resolution photogrammetric surveys and geological-morphological observations to enable a detailed structural analysis and to reconstruct the morphotectonic process of fault growth. The deformation zone develops in a transtensional regime and shows a complex pattern, consisting of brittle structures arranged in en-échelon scale-invariant overlapping systems. Offsets and kinematics vary along the strike due to a major bend in the fault trace. We reconstructed a prevailing right-lateral displacement in the northern section of the fault and a dextral oblique slip in the southern one (max 35 cm); the dip-slip component increases southward (max 50 cm) and overall resembles the along-strike pattern of the long-term morphological throw. The kinematic analysis indicates a quasi-rigid behavior of the two fault blocks and suggests a geological model of rupture propagation that explains both the location of the seismic asperity in the northern section of the Fiandaca fault and the unclamping in the southern one. These findings are used to propose a conceptual model of the fault, representing insights for local fault-based seismic hazard assessment.

The 1928 CE volcanic activity on eastern Etna, Italy, produced wide surface deformation and high effusion rates along fissures, with excess volumes of about 50 million m3 of lavas. This, in conjunction with the low elevation of the main eruptive vents (1150 m a.s.l.), caused the destruction of the Mascali town. Our research focuses on a multidisciplinary study from field observations and Finite Element Method modelling through COMSOL Multiphysics ®, with the aim of reconstructing the geometry, kinematics and origin of the system of faults and fissures formed during the 1928 event. We collected quantitative measurements from 438 sites of azimuth values, opening direction and aperture amount of dry fissures, and attitude and vertical offsets of faults. From west to east, four volcanotectonic settings have been identified, related to dike propagation in the same direction: 1) a sequence of 8 eruptive vents, surrounded by a 385-m wide graben, 2) a 2.5-km long single eruptive fissure, 3) a half-graben as wide as 74 m and a symmetric, 39-m-wide graben without evidence of eruption, 4) alignment of lower vents along the pre-existing Ripe della Naca faults. Field data, along with historical aerial photos, became inputs to FEM numerical models. The latter allowed us to investigate the connection between diking and surface deformation during the 1928 event, subject to a range of overpressure values (1–20 MPa), host rock properties (1–30 GPa) and geometrical complexity (stratigraphic sequence, layer thickness). In addition, we studied the distribution of tensile and shear stresses above the dike tip and gained insights into dike-induced graben scenarios. Our multidisciplinary study reports that soft (e.g. tuff) layers can act as temporary stress barriers and control the surface deformation scenarios (dike-induced graben, single fracture or eruptive fissures) above a propagating dike by suppressing the distribution of shear stresses towards the surface.