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The summit hydrothermal system of Stromboli. New insights from self-potential, temperature, CO2 and fumarolic fluid measurements, with structural and monitoring implications

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Abstract

Accurate and precisely located self-potential (SP), temperature (T) and CO2 measurements were carried out in the summit area of Stromboli along 72 straight profiles. SP data were acquired every metre and T data every 2.5 m. CO2 concentrations were acquired with the same density as T, but only along seven profiles. The high density of data and the diversity of the measured parameters allows us to study structures and phenomena at a scale rarely investigated. The shallow summit hydrothermal activity (Pizzo–Fossa area) is indicated by large positive SP, T and CO2 anomalies. These anomalies are focused on crater faults, suggesting that the fracture zones are more permeable than surrounding rocks at Stromboli. The analysis of the distribution of these linear anomalies, coupled with the examination of the geologic, photographic and topographic data, has led us to propose a new structural interpretation of the summit of Stromboli. This newly defined structural framework comprises (1) a large Pizzo circular crater, about 350 m in diameter; (2) a complex of two concealed craters nested within the Pizzo crater (the Large and the Small Fossa craters), thought to have formed during the eruption of the Pizzo pyroclastites unit; the Small Fossa crater is filled with highly impermeable material that totally impedes the upward flow of hydrothermal fluids; and (3) The present complex of active craters. On the floor of the Fossa, short wavelength SP lows are organized in drainage-like networks diverging from the main thermal anomalies and converging toward the topographic low in the Fossa area, inside the Small Fossa crater. They are interpreted as the subsurface downhill flow of water condensed above the thermal anomalies. We suspect that water accumulates below the Small Fossa crater as a perched water body, representing a high threat of strong phreatic and phreatomagmatic paroxysms. T and CO2 anomalies are highly correlated. The two types of anomalies have very similar shapes, but the sensitivity of CO2 measurements seems higher for lowest hydrothermal flux. Above T anomalies, a pronounced high frequency SP signal is observed. Isotopic analyses of the fluids show similar compositions between the gases rising through the faults of the Pizzo and Large Fossa craters. This suggests a common origin for gases emerging along different structural paths within the summit of Stromboli. A site was found along the Large Fossa crater fault where high gas flux and low air contamination made gas monitoring possible near the active vents using the alkaline bottle sampling technique.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Franco Barberi for providing us with an Italian Civil Protection helicopter to carry scientific materials and food to the summit of Stromboli during the summer of 1995. We sincerely thank Jean-Marie Barnagaud and Thierry Challan for help during the 1992 and 1994, respectively, summer preliminary campaigns, Yashmin Chébli and Sébastien Durand for their invaluable help during the 1995 summer campaign, and Sandrine Poteaux and Virginie Meister during the 1999 summer campaign. We greatly thank John Murray for his help to improve the English. Reviews by Steve Lane and Giorgio Cassiani have helped to improve the manuscript. A.F. acknowledges Klaus Gwinner from DLR—Institute of Space Sensor Technology and Planetary Exploration, for providing airborne photographs of Stromboli Volcano. A.F. also acknowledges the Société de Secours des Amis des Sciences for a research grant, and particularly thanks Jean Todt (Sports Director of Formula One Scuderia Ferrari), Giancarlo Minardi (Director of the Minardi Formula One team), Flavio Briatore, (Director of the Formula One Benetton team) and Marc Demougeot (Director of Sparco-France) for their help into obtaining Formula One fireproof equipment. Without it, measurements near the active craters could not have been carried out for security reasons.

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  1. Anthony Finizola

    Present address: Osservatorio Vesuviano, INGV sezione di Napoli, via Diocleziano 328, 80124 Napoli, Italy

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, OPGC, Université Blaise Pascal, CNRS, 5 rue Kessler, 63038 Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Anthony Finizola, Jean-François Lénat & Maurice Aubert

  2. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Via Ugo La Malfa, 153, 90144 Palermo, Italy

    Francesco Sortino & Mariano Valenza

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Firenze, Via Giorgio La Pira 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy

    Maurizio Ripepe

  4. Laboratorio di Geofisica, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Camerino, Via Gentile III da Varano, 62032 Camerino (MC), Italy

    Maurizio Ripepe

  5. Dipartimento di Chimica e Fisica della Terra e Applicazioni, Università di Palermo, Via Archirafi, 36, 90123 Palermo, Italy

    Mariano Valenza

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Finizola, A., Sortino, F., Lénat, JF. et al. The summit hydrothermal system of Stromboli. New insights from self-potential, temperature, CO2 and fumarolic fluid measurements, with structural and monitoring implications. Bull Volcanol 65, 486–504 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-003-0276-z

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