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A Reappraisal of Seismicity and Eruptions of Pantelleria Island and the Sicily Channel (Italy)

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Abstract

Three main tectonic depressions (the Pantelleria, Linosa and Malta troughs), the expression of a continental rift, characterize the Sicily Channel, a region with recent volcanic activity attested by the Pantelleria and Linosa volcanic islands, as well as numerous seamounts. To understand the seismic and eruptive behaviour of this area, we compare historical and instrumental seismicity retrieved from catalogues with recordings from both a mobile seismic network and a permanent station deployed at Pantelleria. A review of historical eruptions affecting the Sicily Channel is also presented. Recent instrumental seismicity shows that the Sicily Channel is characterized by a low level of seismicity, with earthquakes mainly occurring as isolated events, rather than swarms as observed during the few documented eruptive periods. The results of a seismic survey in 2006–2007, as well as the signals recorded by a permanent station in 2010–2014, enable stating that also Pantelleria is characterized by a very low rate of seismicity. The available, though scant, historical information suggests a recurrence time of about a century for the volcanic activity and that eruptions are usually preceded by seismic swarms. In the only historical known eruption of Pantelleria, in addition to shocks, uplifting and increasing fumarole activity, were observed. Notwithstanding the lack of eruptions over the past century, and despite the low recent seismic rate, we believe that the geophysical monitoring of the Sicily Channel needs improving since it is an area of potentially high seismic and volcanic hazard given the presence of several active submarine eruptive centres.

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(modified after Lanzafame et al. 1994; Reuther and Eisbacher 1985)

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(data from Postpischl 1985; Rovida et al. 2016)

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Carla Bottari, Salvatore D’Amico, Ferruccio Ferrari, Gianni Lanzafame and Mimmo Palano for the useful discussions during the preparation of this study. We also thank the Editor Jose Fernandez for the encouragement, and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments that improved the paper. We are grateful to Stephen Conway for improving the English style of the manuscript. The work was funded by the Italian Department of Civil Defence in the frame of the 2005–2006 Agreement with Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia—INGV (Project V3_7—Pantelleria).

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  1. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Catania-Osservatorio Etneo, Piazza Roma, 2, 95125, Catania, Italy

    Salvatore Spampinato, Andrea Ursino, Salvatore Rapisarda & Graziano Larocca

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Catania, Corso Italia 57, 95129, Catania, Italy

    Maria Serafina Barbano & Claudia Pirrotta

  3. Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Istituto di Radioastronomia, Stazione di Noto, Contrada Renna Bassa, Casella Postale 161, 96017, Noto, SR, Italy

    Pier Raffaele Platania

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  1. Salvatore Spampinato
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  2. Andrea Ursino
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  3. Maria Serafina Barbano
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Spampinato, S., Ursino, A., Barbano, M.S. et al. A Reappraisal of Seismicity and Eruptions of Pantelleria Island and the Sicily Channel (Italy). Pure Appl. Geophys. 174, 2475–2493 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-017-1550-x

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