The EARTHCRUISERS project (EARTH CRUst Imagery for investigating SEismicity, volcanism and marine natural Resources in the Sicilian offshore)

The EARTHCRUISERS project was developed for the MIUR’s call “Progetti Premiali 2015” by the “Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale” (Trieste, Italy) in collaboration with the “Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Etneo” (Catania, Italy) and “Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn” (Naples, Italy). The main goals of the project are: (i) to identify and characterize the main crustal tectonic structures offshore Sicily and the Aeolian Islands, (ii) to better understand the geodynamic processes controlling seismicity and volcanism affecting this region, and (iii) to furnish a useful tool to estimate seismic, tsunamigenic and volcanic hazard in the highly populated coastal sectors. Furthermore, in order to contribute at the Blue Growth objectives, the project aims to analyze some relevant issues related to mineral prospecting offshore, such as the characterization of the hydrothermal systems in the Tyrrhenian Sea and the impact of the exploitation of oil and gas fields on the marine environment in the Sicily Channel. To achieve these objectives the acquisition of multibeam and sidescan sonar, multichannel seismic reflection, magnetic and gravimetric data is planned. Nearly 2500 km of multichannel seismic reflection lines will be acquired during the project in the Marsili Basin (Tyrrhenian Sea) and Mt. Etna offshore. This large amount of data will allow to: better understand the relationship between tectonics and evolution of volcanism; identify active faults and volcanic bodies; better constrain the seismostratigraphic and structural setting of the study areas, and investigate the eventual occurrence of unstable volcanic slopes which could lead to landslide and tsunami. Finally, the deployment offshore southeastern Sicily of a temporary Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS) network will carry out for monitoring the natural seismicity in the area of VEGA platform, the largest oil extraction site in Italian seas. Data collected will be used to study the eventual correlation between local seismicity and oil extractive activities.PublishedRome2T. Deformazione crostale attiv

The Bortoluzzi Mud Volcano (Ionian Sea, Italy) and its potential for tracking the seismic cycle of active faults

The Ionian Sea in southern Italy is at the center of active interaction and convergence between the Eurasian and African–Adriatic plates in the Mediterranean. This area is seismically active with instrumentally and/or historically recorded Mw > 7:0 earthquakes, and it is affected by recently discovered long strike-slip faults across the active Calabrian accretionary wedge. Many mud volcanoes occur on top of the wedge. A recently discovered one (called the Bortoluzzi Mud Volcano or BMV) was surveyed during the Seismofaults 2017 cruise (May 2017). Bathymetric backscatter surveys, seismic reflection profiles, geochemical and earthquake data, and a gravity core are used here to geologically, geochemically, and geophysically characterize this structure. The BMV is a circular feature ' 22m high and ' 1100m in diameter with steep slopes (up to a dip of 22 ). It sits atop the Calabrian accretionary wedge and a system of flowerlike oblique-slip faults that are probably seismically active as demonstrated by earthquake hypocentral and focal data. Geochemistry of water samples from the seawater column on top of the BMV shows a significant contamination of the bottom waters from saline (evaporite-type) CH4-dominated crustalderived fluids similar to the fluids collected from a mud volcano located on the Calabria mainland over the same accretionary wedge. These results attest to the occurrence of open crustal pathways for fluids through the BMV down to at least the Messinian evaporites at about 3000 m. This evidence is also substantiated by helium isotope ratios and by comparison and contrast with different geochemical data from three seawater columns located over other active faults in the Ionian Sea area. One conclusion is that the BMV may be useful for tracking the seismic cycle of active faults through geochemical monitoring. Due to the widespread diffusion of mud volcanoes in seismically active settings, this study contributes to indicating a future path for the use of mud volcanoes in the monitoring and mitigation of natural hazards.Published1-233SR TERREMOTI - Attività dei CentriJCR Journa

A revision of the OBSP after the Tomo-ETNA experiment

In 2014 INGV acquired 18 new Ocean Bottom System for Seismic Prospecting (OBSP). These systems, being intended for seismic surveying, are complementary to the other family of OBS’s in the INGV availability, with the broadband instrumenttype instead. Compared to the broadband version, the OBSP is relatively low weight (about 50 kg) and small size, being built around a single 17” glass sphere. The maximum deployment time is also shorter, up to 4 months, depending on the configuration.PublishedRome7TM.Sviluppo e Trasferimento Tecnologic

Offshore Seismic Monitoring: deployment of a seismometer on the bottom of a conductor pipe of the oil platform Rospo Mare C

Extending seismic monitoring to offshore areas is among main INGV’s aims; OBS Lab is contributing to the achievement of this goal with technological development of submarine systems and scientific missions. Offshore realtime systems not only provide oceanographic data but also allow improving the hypocenter computation, under certain operative conditions.UnpublishedRome1IT. Reti di monitoraggio e sorveglianz

The Earth Lab 5s (ETL3D/5s) seismic sensor. Design and test

This work presents a new low cost and low power consumption wide-band (5s) three-component seismic sensor, named ETL3D/5s. The sensor is suitable for seismic regional monitoring (local and regional earthquakes), HVSR measurements, seismic microzonation studies and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of civil structures. ETL3D/5s includes a set of three 4.5 Hz geophones and an electronic circuit that increases the geophone’s natural period. The sensor exhibits a period of 5 s and a power consumption as low as 75 mW. Changes in ambient temperature have a small effect on the frequency response because a temperature compensation system is also implemented. A small and sturdy cylindrical housing contains the electronic boards and geophones. The housing design was supported by a modal FEM analysis, in order not to affect the frequency response. The chosen materials and parts guarantee protection against atmospheric agents and watertightness (IP68 degree). The sensor noise model, partially confirmed by a field test, predicts a power spectral density of 10 (nm/s)/√Hz at 1Hz

Mechanical design of a tide gauge station for Ustica

There are many scientific experiences related to the sealevel measurement with different techniques [Blomenhofer and Hein, 1994; Key and Parke, 1997; Pellegrinelli et al., 2009] where methods, data analysis and comparisons are discussed, but no technical information are provided about the mechanical aspects of the structure required for the acquisition. In order to fill this lack, in this work we show some mechanical design steps, with technical information, of a particular tide gauge station, highlighting the significant mechanical stresses and deformations arising from the interaction between the structure and the sea. The structure of a tide gauge station, with submerged sensor, consists of a surge pipe anchored to a pier and partially immersed in seawater. Despite such conceptual simplicity, this design required a careful analysis under different points of view to ensure a long life in the harsh environment in which the station will be installed and to guarantee an optimal sealevel monitoring.PublishedRome1SR TERREMOTI - Sorveglianza Sismica e Allerta Tsunam

An Embedded System for the integration of a Combined Photovoltaic Solar (CPS) system into a ZigBee Home Area Network

In this paper is reported the design and implementation of an electronic system capable of communicating over a standard ZigBee network in order to let a residential gateway collector, named agent, gain access to the parameters of a Combined Photovoltaic and Solar thermal (CPS) plant, thus realizing a networked energy production appliance . The system is made of three parts: a PV metering device, a boiler metering device also capable of controlling a heating resistor embedded within the boiler tank, and a data collector acting as a ZigBee node. The data collector device periodically retrieves the following parameters from the metering devices: instantaneous photovoltaic power production, accumulated photovoltaic energy, instantaneous boiler heater power consumption, accumulated energy consumed by the boiler resistor, water temperatures in three distinct points of the boiler. Since solar thermal and photovoltaic panels are located out of the ZigBee communication range, an RS485 wired link between the three devices has been implemented, while the collector, usually located not far from the agent, has wireless visibility. Some of the parameters listed above are already monitored by proprietary CPS digital systems. However the implemented ZigBee nodes make these parameters accessible through an open and interoperable standard. Various IC manufacturers including Texas Instruments and Freescale provide ZigBee enabled solution. The development of the system is based on the Texas Instruments solution is described and their advantage and limitations have been experimentally studied in order to explore the possible application area

PGS1, a new low cost and low power Portable Geophysical Station “All in One”. Design and test

PGS1 is a new compact portable seismic station, designed at INGV OBS and Earth Lab, that is specifically intended for the deployment of dense arrays of seismographs on-shore. With its low cost, compact design, high data-quality and long battery life, PGS1 is a perfect solution for seismic monitoring networks. PGS1 design is based on a solid polypropylene suitcase, containing a complete data acquisition system, two battery packs and a photovoltaic panel. The new Earth Lab 5s medium-period seismic sensor is included. The whole system meets the IP67 standard requirements both in transport and in acquisition configuration. PGS1 is normally equipped with one battery pack, one more pack can be added inside the suitcase achieving 40 days of battery life. The station is equipped with a photovoltaic panel, useful to extend the deployment length. Inside the suitcase, there are compartments where to store the seismic sensor, the photovoltaic panel and all the cables. Therefore, the station is very easy to transport

An embedded datalogger with a fast acquisition rate for in-vehicle testing and monitoring

A very compact and high performance datalogger for automotive in-vehicle testing is here described. The small logger dimensions and the availability of a CAN interface allows to easily implement multiple and distributed acquisition schemes, very challenging with traditional instrumentation. High acquisition rate, up to 100 Ksps/ch, and low cost was obtained through a very accurate hardware and software design