MED-SUV.ISES
The main objective of the MED-SUV.ISES project is to perform a high resolution seismic tomography, in
velocity and attenuation, focusing on the main Italian active volcanoes (Mt. Etna and Aeolian Islands,
South Italy) by using active seismic data. For this aim this project will be integrated with the activities
planned in the framework of the FP7-EC MED-SUV project (http://www.med-suv.eu/) where onshore
and offshore seismic stations will be used to record active seismic data generated both in marine and
terrestrial environments.
The rationale of the project is to define a detailed structure of the crust beneath Mt. Etna and
surrounding areas, included the Calabrian-Peloritan arc and Aeolian Island volcanoes, both related the
compressive dynamics due to the convergence between Eurasian and African plates. We expect that
the tomography will also provide a detailed image of the whole Mt. Etna plumbing system (i.e., the
geometry and location of the magma uprising paths or the magma storages volumes, etc.) so as to
obtain valuable constraints for geophysical modelling. The integration between active and passive
(FP7-EC MED-SUV) datasets will be used also to improve the resulting tomographic images and their
resolution.
Additionally, to perform a joint model of the Upper Mantle-Crust structure we will integrate the outcomes
of the seismic experiments with other geophysical investigations, by exploiting the magnetic and
gravimetric facilities available for the ships asked for this experiment. Considering that the last active
seismic investigations date to more than twenty years ago, the obtained model will represent a step
forward in the understanding of the dynamics of the targeted region.
