Geophysical investigations along the Tyrrhenian shore of Calabria

Abstract

The Tyrrhenian Sea is a widely investigated basin developed in the Mediterranean area within the frame of Europe- Africa convergence and Ionian plate subduction process (Faccenna et al., 2014; Orecchio et al., 2014 and references therein). Since the Late Miocene, extension within the Tyrrhenian Sea was associated with coeval shortening in the Apennines-Maghrebide orogen and progressive southeastward rollback of the Ionian subducting plate. In this framework both extension and widespread volcanism well represented by the Vavilov and Marsili basins and the Aeolian volcanic arc, are typical features of the Tyrrhenian Sea region. Several authors (De Ritis et al., 2010; Loreto et al., 2015 and references therein) have also recently documented the occurrence of a submarine volcanic structure in proximity of the Tyrrhenian shore of southern Calabria just near the Capo Vaticano promontory. Geophysical and geochemical data have provided new insights on the volcano-tectonic origin and geometry of this volcanic structure formed in the upper plate of the Ionian subduction system. On these grounds, the present study aims to investigate the southeastern portion of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the confining western Calabrian area by integrating new results coming from local earthquake tomography, high-resolution reflection seismic and magnetic data. The joint evaluation of the different results will allow to further refine the knowledge of the Capo Vaticano volcanic structure. Moreover, we aim to discuss the possible occurrence of further events along a wider portion of the western Tyrrhenian Calabrian side, extended in between 38° and 40° of latitudes, on the base of previously undetected geophysical anomalies, potentially related to volcanic-intrusive manifestations.