La Solfatara di Pozzuoli: rilevamento e caratterizzazione mineralogica dell’alterazione idrotermale superficiale.

La Solfatara di Pozzuoli fa parte del Distretto Vulcanico dei Campi Flegrei, un’area di vulcanismo attivo appartenente alla Provincia Comagmatica Romana e impostatasi al centro del graben della Piana Campana. La Solfatara è un cratere formatosi durante l’ultima fase di vulcanismo intenso dei Campi Flegrei (circa 4000 anni) e ha prodotto una breccia affiorante dentro il cratere stesso e in un’area limitata intorno a questo; l’eruzione della Solfatara ha parzialmente smantellato il più vecchio duomo dell’Olibano che oggi borda il versante SE del cratere; queste due unità sono state poi ricoperte da un deposito prevalentemente cineritico prodotto dall’eruzione del vicino vulcano di Astroni. L’area è caratterizzata dalla presenza di varie manifestazioni idrotermali quali sorgenti calde, fumarole, emissioni di gas al suolo; tutte espressioni, queste, di un sistema geotermale profondo, noto sin dalle prime perforazioni del 1949-1950. Una più recente campagna investigativa condotta dall’Agip nei primi anni Ottanta, con la perforazione di pozzi profondi fino a 3000 m, ha permesso di riconoscere la presenza della tipica zoneografia dell’alterazione idrotermale. Questa tesi si propone di incrementare le conoscenze sull’alterazione idrotermale superficiale anche nell’ottica di una cartografia di dettaglio che non può prescindere dall’alterazione superficiale. Il primo obiettivo di questa tesi è stato infatti quello di cartografare l’alterazione idrotermale superficiale; per questo scopo sono state effettuate due campagne di rilevamento e sono state analizzate foto aeree e foto AIMA; la cartografia è stata riportata sul programma di cartografia digitale Arcview 3.2a ® ed evidenzia come la zona soggetta ad alterazione idrotermale sia un’area praticamente continua che comprende il cratere della Solfatara e la zona dei Pisciarelli. Il secondo obiettivo è stata la caratterizzazione mineralogica delle facies di alterazione presenti attraverso l’analisi delle rocce campionate; la paragenesi mineralogica dei campioni è stata ottenuta attraverso diffrattometria a raggi X e microanalisi al microscopio elettronico a scansione (SEM-EDS). Le facies di alterazione ritrovate sono la silicica e l’argillitica avanzata; l’alterazione silicica è caratterizzata dal completo disfacimento della roccia originale ed i campioni studiati sono interamente costituiti da silice amorfa e da fasi accessorie quali barite e rutilo; l’alterazione argillitica avanzata è caratterizzata dalla sostituzione delle fasi primarie delle rocce da parte di minerali appartenenti al gruppo dell’alunite alla quale si associa anidrite, zolfo nativo e pirite. L’alterazione è condizionata nella sua distribuzione dalle strutture tettoniche dell’area, fratture e faglie, mentre le diverse facies spesso si sovrappongono e manca comunque la tipica zoneografia tipica di altri sistemi idrotermali

The tectonic puzzle of the Messina area (Southern Italy): Insights from new seismic reflection data

The Messina Strait, that separates peninsular Italy from Sicily, is one of the most seismically active areas of the Mediterranean. The structure and seismotectonic setting of the region are poorly understood, although the area is highly populated and important infrastructures are planned there. New seismic reflection data have identified a number of faults, as well as a crustal scale NE-trending anticline few km north of the strait. These features are interpreted as due to active right-lateral transpression along the north-eastern Sicilian offshore, coexisting with extensional and right-lateral transtensional tectonics in the southern Messina Strait. This complex tectonic network appears to be controlled by independent and overlapping tectonic settings, due to the presence of a diffuse transfer zone between the SE-ward retreating Calabria subduction zone relative to slab advance in the western Sicilian side

Multidisciplinary Investigation at Panarea (Aeolian Islands) After the Exhalative Crisis of 2002.

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Monitoring of a coastal zone by independent fast photogrammetric surveys: The case of Monterosso a Mare (Ligurian Sea, Italy)

The Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry (SfM) allows a fast and easy data acquisition and a highly automated data processing, leading to accurate photorealistic point clouds. The results of a SfM-based modeling of the coastal zone of Monterosso a Mare (Eastern Liguria, Italy) are shown here. Four photogrammetric surveys of the area were carried out from both moving surface (boat) and aerial (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) platforms. The corresponding results were compared in order to provide information about precision and model reliability from fast ad cheap SfM surveys carried out without Ground Control Points (GCPs). The important issue of scale factor evaluation was solved by means of selection of points easily recognizable in each point cloud and measurement of the length of the polyline that connects these points. The ratio between the lengths of the polyline defined on a point cloud and the corresponding polyline defined in a metric reference frame provided the scale factor. The results highlight that the SfM technique can be used in emergency conditions, where GCPs cannot be used, and is compatible with a floating platform-based observation, leading to point clouds whose resolution is some centimeters for an acquisition distance of 100-150 m.Published73-817A. Geofisica per il monitoraggio ambientaleN/A or not JC

Synthesis, size-dependent optoelectronic and charge transport properties of thieno(bis)imide end-substituted molecular semiconductors

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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

Photogrammetric Surveys: the Case of Monterosso a Mare (Ligurian Sea, Italy)

Abstract The Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry (SfM) allows a fast and easy data acquisition and a highly automated data processing, leading to accurate photorealistic point clouds. The results of a SfM-based modeling of the coastal zone of Monterosso a Mare (Eastern Liguria, Italy) are shown here. Four photogrammetric surveys of the area were carried out from both moving surface (boat) and aerial (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) platforms. The corresponding results were compared in order to provide information about precision and model reliability from fast ad cheap SfM surveys carried out without Ground Control Points (GCPs). The important issue of scale factor evaluation was solved by means of selection of points easily recognizable in each point cloud and measurement of the length of the polyline that connects these points. The ratio between the lengths of the polyline defined on a point cloud and the corresponding polyline defined in a metric reference frame provided the scale factor. The results highlight that the SfM technique can be used in emergency conditions, where GCPs cannot be used, and is compatible with a floating platform-based observation, leading to point clouds whose resolution is some centimeters for an acquisition distance of 100-150 m

Potential fields study of Marsili basin and Palinuro volcanic complex

In this thesis Marsili back-arc basin and Palinuro Volcanic Complex (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea) have been investigated by using magnetic, bathymetric and gravimetric data. A new velocity model of opening of the Marsili basin has been proposed, highlighting the transition from the horizontal spreading of the back-arc to the vertical accretion of the Marsili seamount. Introducing gravity data, Marsili's internal structure has been modeled and a huge portion of the volcano with low density and vanishing magnetization has been detected. Forward modeling of Palinuro Volcanic Complex showed as Palinuro represents the shallowest evidence of a deep tectonic discontinuity and the possible transition domain between the oceanic crust of Marsili Basin and the continental crust related to the Appenninic chain

Integrazione di dati laser scanning e fotogrammetrici per il monitoraggio delle coste: i primi rilievi TLS terrestri per il progetto SCANCOAST

Il lavoro descritto in questo rapporto tecnico è parte integrante del programma operativo del progetto SCANCOAST, pensato per il monitoraggio di aree costiere e sottomarine condotto mediante l’integrazione di tecniche di telerilevamento quali Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), fotogrammetria digitale e multibeam interferometrico.ingvPublished3A. Geofisica marinaN/A or not JC

Back-Arc Spreading Centers and Superfast Subduction: The Case of the Northern Lau Basin (SW Pacific Ocean)

The Lau Basin is a back-arc region formed by the subduction of the Pacific plate below the Australian plate. We studied the regional morphology of the back-arc spreading centers of the Northern Lau basin, and we compared it to their relative spreading rates. We obtained a value of 60.2 mm/year along the Northwest Lau Spreading Centers based on magnetic data, improving on the spreading rate literature data. Furthermore, we carried out numerical models including visco-plastic rheologies and prescribed surface velocities, in an upper plate-fixed reference frame. Although our thermal model points to a high temperature only near the Tonga trench, the model of the second invariant of the strain rate shows active deformation in the mantle from the Tonga trench to ~800 km along the overriding plate. This explains the anomalous magmatic production along all the volcanic centers in the Northern Lau Back-Arc Basin