Abstract
After the major 1991–1993 eruption, Mt. Etna resumed flank activity in July 2001 through a complex system of eruptive fissures cutting the NE and the S flanks of the volcano and feeding effusive activity, fire fountains, Strombolian and minor phreatomagmatic explosions. Throughout the eruption, magmas with different petrography and composition were erupted. The vents higher than 2,600 m a.s.l. (hereafter Upper vents, UV) erupted porphyritic, plagioclase-rich trachybasalt, typical of present-day summit and flank activity. Differently, the vents located at 2,550 and 2,100 m a.s.l. (hereafter Lower vents, LV) produced slightly more primitive trachybasalt dominated by large clinopyroxene, olivine and uncommon minerals for Etna such as amphibole, apatite and orthopyroxene and containing siliceous and cognate xenoliths. Petrologic investigations carried out on samples collected throughout the eruption provided insights into one of the most intriguing aspects of the 2001 activity, namely the coeval occurrence of distinct magmas. We interpret this evidence as the result of a complex plumbing system. It consists in two separate magma storage systems: a shallow one feeding the activity of the UV and a deeper and more complex storage related to the activity of LV. In this deep storage zone, which is thermally and compositionally zoned, the favourable conditions allow the crystallization of amphibole and the occurrence of cognate xenoliths representing wall cumulates. Throughout 2001 eruption, UV and LV magmas remain clearly distinct and ascended following different paths, ruling out the occurrence of mixing processes between them. Furthermore, integrating the 2001 eruption in the framework of summit activity occurring since 1995, we propose that the 2001 magma feeding the vents lower than 2,600 m a.s.l. is a precursor of a refilling event, which reached its peak during the 2002–2003 Etna flank eruption.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acocella V, Neri M (2003) What makes flank eruptions? The 2001 Etna eruption and its possible triggering mechanisms. Bull Volcanol 65(7):517–529
Alletti M, Pompilio M, Rotolo SG (2005) Mafic and ultramafic enclaves in Ustica Island lavas: inferences on the composition of lower crust and deep magmatic processes. Lithos 84:151–167
Andronico D, Branca S, Calvari S, Burton M, Caltabiano T, Corsaro RA, Del Carlo P, Garfì G, Lodato L, Miraglia L, Murè F, Neri M, Pecora E, Pompilio M, Salerno G, Spampinato L (2005) A multi-disciplinary study of the 2002–03 Etna eruption: insights into a complex plumbing system. Bull Volcanol 67:314–330
Armienti P, Clocchiatti R, Innocenti F, Pompilio M, Villari L (1987) 1984–1985 Mount Etna effusive activity. Rend Soc It Miner Petrol 42:225–236
Armienti P, Innocenti F, Petrini R, Pompilio M, Villari L (1988) Sub-aphyric alkali basalt from Mt.Etna: inferences on the depth and composition of the source magma. Rend Soc It Miner Petrol 43:877–891
Armienti P, Innocenti F, Petrini R, Pompilio M, Villari L (1989) Petrology and Sr–Nd isotope geochemistry of recent etnean lavas from Mt. Etna: bearing on the volcano feeding system. J Volcanol Geoth Res 39:315–327
Armienti P, Clocchiatti R, D’Orazio M, Innocenti F, Petrini R, Pompilio M, Tonarini S, Villari L (1994) The long-standing 1991–1993 Mount Etna eruption: petrography and geochemistry of lavas. Acta Vulcanol 4:15–28
Beccaluva L, Rossi PL, Serri G (1982) Neogene to recent volcanism of the southern Tyrrhenian–Sicilian area: implications for the geodynamic evolution of the Calabrian arc. Earth Planet Sci Lett 3:222–238
Behncke B, Neri M (2003) The July–August 2001 eruption of Mt. Etna (Sicily). Bull Volcanol 65(7):461–476
Bence AE, Albee AL (1968) Empirical correction factor for the electron microanalysis of silicates oxides carbonates phosphates and sulphates. J Geology 76:382–403
Bonaccorso A, Aloisi M, Mattia M (2002) Dike emplacement forerunning the Etna July 2001 eruption modeled through continuous tilt and GPS data. Geophys Res Lett 29(13):1624
Bonforte A, Guglielmino F, Palano M, Puglisi G (2004) A syn-eruptive ground deformation episode measured by GPS, during the 2001 eruption on the upper southern flank of Mt Etna. Bull Volcanol 66(4):336–341
Calvari S, Coltelli M, Neri M, Pompilio M, Scribano V (1994) Mt. Etna 1991–93 eruption: chronology and lava flow-field evolution. Acta Vulcanol 4:1–14
Calvari S, Neri M, Pinkerton H (2003) Effusion rate estimations during the 1999 summit eruption on Mount Etna, and growth of two distinct lava flow fields. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 119(1–4):107–123
Clocchiatti R, Joron JL, Treuil M (1988) The role of selective alkali contamination in the evolution of recent historic lava of Mount Etna. J Volcanol Geoth Res 34(3–4):241–249
Chiarabba C, Amato A, Boschi E, Barberi F (2000) Recent seismicity and tomographic modeling of the Mount Etna plumbing system. J Geoph Res 105(B5):10923–10938
Clocchiatti R, Condomines M, Guenot N, Tanguy JC (2004) Magma changes at Mount Etna: the 2001 and 2002–2003 eruptions. Earth Planet Sci Lett 226(3–4):397–414
Coltelli M (2000) Report on the eruptive activity at Etna from January 1998 to September 1999. Final Report, Istituto Internazionale di Vulcanologia
Coltelli M, Del Carlo P, Vezzoli L (1998a) Discovery of a Plinian basaltic eruption of Roman age at Etna volcano, Italy. Geology 26(12):1095–1098
Coltelli M, Pompilio M, Del Carlo P, Calvari S, Pannucci S, Scribano V (1998b) Mt. Etna: the eruptive activity. Acta Vulcanol 10:41–148
Coltelli M, Del Carlo P, Pompilio M (2000) Mt. Etna: eruptive activity in 1996. Acta Vulcanol 12(1):63–67
Corsaro RA, Cristofolini R, Patanè L (1996) The 1669 eruption at Mount Etna: chronology, petrology and geochemistry, with inferences on the magma sources and ascent mechanisms. Bull Volcanol 58:348–358
Corsaro RA, Pompilio M (2004a) Buoyancy-controlled eruption of magmas at Mt Etna. Terra Nova 16(1):16–22
Corsaro RA, Pompilio M (2004b) Magma dynamics at Mount Etna. In: Bonaccorso A, Calvari S, Coltelli M, Del Negro C, Falsaperla S (ed) Etna—Volcano laboratory. AGU, Washington, pp 91–110
Corsaro RA, Pompilio M (2004c) Magmatic processes in the shallow plumbing system of Mt. Etna as recorded by compositional variations in volcanics of recent summit activity (1995–1999). J Volcanol Geotherm Res 137(1):55–71
Cristofolini R, Menzies MA, Beccaluva L, Tindle A (1987) Petrological notes on the 1983 lavas of Mt. Etna, Sicily with reference to their REE and Sr–Nd isotope composition. Bull Volcanol 49:599–607
D’Orazio M, Tonarini S, Innocenti F, Pompilio M (1997) The northern valle del Bove volcanic succession (Mt. Etna, Sicily): petrography, geochemistry and Sr–Nd isotope data. Acta Vulcanol 9(1):69–79
Ghiorso MS, Sack RO (1995) Chemical mass transfer in magmatic processes IV. A revised and internally consistent thermodynamic model for the interpolation and extrapolation of liquid–solid equilibria in magmatic systems at elevated temperatures and pressures. Contrib Mineral Petrol 119:197–212
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, sezione di Catania Research Staff (2001) Multidisciplinary approach yields insight into Mt. Etna eruption. Eos Trans AGU 82(52):653
La Delfa S, Patane G, Clocchiatti R, Joron JL, Tanguy JC (2001) Activity of Mount Etna preceding the February 1999 fissure eruption: inferred mechanism from seismological and geochemical data. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 105(1–2):121–139
Lanzafame G, Neri M, Acocella V, Billi A, Funiciello R, Giordano G (2003) Structural features of the July–August 2001 Mount Etna eruption: evidence for a complex magma supply system. J Geolog Soc 160:531–544
Leake BE, Woolley AR, Arps CES, Birch WD, Gilbert MC, Grice JD, Hawthorne FC, Kato A, Kisch HJ, Krivovichev VG, Linthout K, Laird J, Mandarino J, Maresch WV, Nickel EH, Rock NMS, Schumacher JC, Smith DC, Stephenson NCN, Ungaretti L, Whittaker EJW, Youzhi G (1997) Nomenclature of amphiboles: report of the subcommittee on amphiboles of the international mineralogical association commission on new minerals and mineral names. Mineralog Mag 61(2):295–321
Le Maitre RW (1989) A classification of igneous rocks and glossary of terms. Recommendations of the IUGS Subcomission on the Systematics of Igneous rocks. Blackwell Scientific, pp 193
Marsh BD (1996) Solidification fronts and magmatic evolution. Mineral Mag 60:5–40
Metrich N, Rutherford MJ (1998) Low pressure crystallization paths of H2O-Saturated basaltic–hawaiitic melts from Mt Etna: implications for open-system degassing of basaltic volcanoes. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 62(7):1195–1205
Metrich N, Allard P, Spilliaert N, Andronico D, Burton M (2004) 2001 flank eruption of the alkali- and volatile-rich primitive basalt responsible for Mount Etna’s evolution in the last three decades. Earth Planet Sci Lett 228(1–2):1–17
Michaud V (1995) Crustal xenoliths in recent hawaiites from Mount Etna, Italy—evidence for alkali exchanges during magma-wall rock interaction. Chem Geology 122(1–4):21–42
Morimoto N (1988) Nomenclature of pyroxenes. Mineral Petrol 39:55–76
Monaco C, Catalano S, Cocina O, De Guidi G, Ferlito C, Gresta S, Musumeci C, Tortorici L (2005) Tectonic control on the eruptive dynamics at Mt. Etna Volcano (Sicily) during the 2001 and 2002–2003 eruptions. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 144:211–233
Nicholis M, Rutherford MJ (2004) Experimental constraints on magma ascent rate for the Crater Flat volcanic zone hawaiite. Geology 32:489–492
Patanè D, Chiarabba C, Cocina O, De Gori P, Moretti P, Boschi E (2002) Tomographic images and 3D earthquake locations of the seismic swarm preceding the 2001 Mt. Etna eruption: evidence for a dyke intrusion. Geophys Res Lett 29(10):1497. DOI 10.1029/2001GL014391
Patanè D, De Gori P, Chiarabba C, Bonaccorso A (2003) Magma ascent and the pressurization of Mount Etna’s volcanic system. Science 299:2061–2063
Pompilio M, Coltelli M, Del Carlo P, Vezzoli L (1995) How do basaltic magmas, feeding explosive eruptions, rise and differentiate at Mt. Etna? Period Mineral 64:253–254
Rittmann A (1965) Notizie sull’Etna. Supplemento al Nuovo Cimento 3(I):1117–1123
Roeder PL, Emslie RF (1970) Olivine-liquid equilibrium. Contrib Mineral Petrol 29:275–289
Schiano P, Clocchiatti R, Ottolini L, Busa T (2001) Transition of Mount Etna lavas from a mantle-plume to an island-arc magmatic source. Nature 412:900–904
Taddeucci J, Pompilio M, Scarlato P (2002) Monitoring the explosive activity of the July–August 2001 eruption of Mt. Etna (Italy) by ash characterization. Geophys Res Lett 29(8):711–714
Taddeucci J, Pompilio M, Scarlato P (2004a) Conduit processes during the July–August 2001 explosive activity of Mt. Etna (Italy): inferences from glass chemistry and crystal size distribution of ash particles. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 137(1–3):33–54
Taddeucci J, Spieler O, Kennedy B, Pompilio M, Dingwell DB, Scarlato P (2004b) Experimental and analytical modeling of basaltic ash explosions at Mount Etna, Italy, 2001. J Geophys Res 109(B8)
Tanguy JC, Clocchiatti R (1984) The Etnean lavas, 1977–1983: petrology and mineralogy. Bull Volcanol 47(4):879–894
Tanguy JC, Condomines M, Kieffer G (1997) Evolution of the Mount Etna magma: constraints on the present feeding system and eruptive mechanism. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 75:221–250
Tonarini S, Armienti P, D’Orazio M, Innocenti F, Pompilio M, Petrini R (1995) Geochemical and isotopic monitoring of Mt. Etna 1989–93. Eruptive activity: bearing on the shallow feeding system. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 64:95–115
Tonarini S, Armienti P, D’Orazio M, Innocenti F (2001) Subduction-like fluids in the genesis of Mt. Etna magmas: evidence from boron isotopes and fluid mobile elements. Earth Planet Sci Lett 192(4):471–483
Viccaro M, Ferlito C, Cortesogno L, Cristofolini R, Gaggero L (2006) Magma mixing during the 2001 event at Mount Etna (Italy): effects on the eruptive dynamics. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 149:139–159
Villemant B, Michaud V, Metrich N (1993) Wall rock magma interactions in Etna, Italy, studies by U–Th disequilibrium and rare-earth element systematics. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 57(6):1169–1180
Acknowledgements
We are very grateful to Dr. Filippo Olmi, who recently passed away. His competence, great kindness and patience were fundamental to perform our analyses with electron microprobe, at “CNR-C.S. per la Minerogenesi e Geochimica Applicata”. We wish also to thank all numerous people that helped us during field survey and sampling and in particular C. Freda, P. Landi, P.G. Scarlato and J. Taddeucci for their fundamental help and for the fruitful and critical discussion during the eruption.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Editorial responsibility: D Dingwell
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Corsaro, R.A., Miraglia, L. & Pompilio, M. Petrologic evidence of a complex plumbing system feeding the July–August 2001 eruption of Mt. Etna, Sicily, Italy. Bull Volcanol 69, 401–421 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-006-0083-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-006-0083-4