Comment on "The Campi Flegrei Deep Drilling Project (CFDDP): New Insight on Caldera Structure, Evolution and Hazard Implications for the Naples Area (Southern Italy)" by G. De Natale et al.

AbstractThe paper by De Natale et al. (2016, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GC006183) reported new stratigraphic and geochronological data for a borehole located at Campi Flegrei volcanic area. The authors failed to mention several significant articles on the geological evolution of the region and proposed an interpretation of their data according to the caldera model. Herein, we provide tectonic and stratigraphic data to support a fault model of ignimbrite emission. This comment will also show the inconsistency of the proposed Campi Flegrei caldera

Chapter The offshore environmental impact by Sarno river in Naples bay (South-West Italy)

The goal of this work has been to establish the influence of the Sarno river on the present sedimentation in the Naples bay continental shelf by evaluating organic matter contribution and pollution. Sediments samples were collected, by van Veen grab, in 71 stations located offshore the Sarno river between Vesuvian and Sorrento Peninsula coasts. The characteristics of the surface sediments were analysed to highlight spatial trends in the (i) granulometry (grain-size); (ii) total nitrogen, organic carbon and total phosphorus; (iii) metal content (Hg, Cd, Pb, As, Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn, Fe and Mn)

Multivariate tools to investigate the spatial contaminant distribution in a highly anthropized area (Gulf of Naples, Italy)

The Gulf of Naples located in a high anthropized coastal area is subjected to an infrastructural intervention for the installation of a submarine power pipeline. In order to evaluate the distribution of contaminants in the seafloor sediments, a preliminary study has been conducted in the area using multivariate techniques. The statistic approach was performed to gain insights on the occurrence of organic and inorganic contaminants within the area, aiming to identify the relevant hot spots. Three geographical sub-areas influenced by different contaminant association were recognized: Torre Annunziata (TA), Capri (CA), and middle offshore (MO). TA and CA resulted marked by a severe contamination pattern due to anthropogenic pressures. In addition, the influence of the depositional basin in governing the contamination trend has been pointed out. The supervised technique PLS_DA resulted to be a powerful tool in addressing the complexity of the huge dataset acquired during the marine survey, highlighting the main trends in the variability of quality indicators, orienting thus the deeper investigations during follow-up monitoring activities

Extensional Messinian basins in the Central Mediterranean (Calabria, Italy): new stratigraphic and tectonic insights

The direction of extension and the architecture of the Messinian basins of the Central Mediterranean region is a controversial issue. By combining original stratigraphic analysis of wells and seismic profiles collected offshore and onshore Calabria, we reassess the tectonic evolution that controlled the sedimentation and basement deformation during Messinian times. Three main deep sedimentary basins in the Calabria area record a Messinian succession formed by two clays/shales-dominated subunits subdivided by a halite-dominated subunit. The correlation with the worldwide recognized stratigraphic features permit to define the chronology of the stratigraphic and tectonic events. Three main rift basins that opened in a N-S direction have been recognized. On the contrary a fourth supradetachment basin opened toward the East. We found that the basin subsidence was controlled by two stages of activity of normal faults and that Messinian rift basins evolve in a deep-water environment. The overall pattern of extensional faults of the Central Mediterranean corresponds to normal faults striking parallel to the trench and normal faults striking at an oblique angle to the trench (Fig. 14). In particular in Campania and Calabria regions are present two rifts parallel to trench and an intervening rift orthogonal to the trench. We maintain that the recognized Messinian rift basins can be interpreted according to the “Double-door saloon tectonics”

Tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the Southern Campania Margin: a key area for the evolution of the Tyrrhenian-Apennine system

The Southern Campania Margin (SCM) represents a key area of the Central Mediterranean because it records all the rifting stages of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The interpretation of a seismic dataset calibrated with deep wells and outcrops, using seismic stratigraphy and structural geology methods in a dedicated Geographic Information System (GIS) environment, the seismic depth conversion, the generation of 2-D and 3-D models led to the reconstruction of a polyphased tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the SCM. During the early stage of Tyrrhenian opening a terrigenous transtensional Basin (Langhian-Tortonian Cilento Basin) formed on the Liguride accretionary prism adjacent to the Calabria crystalline terrane. In the SCM the Liguride thrust sheets tectonically overly the Apennine Platform units and both these nappes have been dismembered by Quaternary faults. Three rifting stages, not homogeneously distributed, affected the region since the Lower Pleistocene. They are associated to the deposition of a thick Quaternary succession (A, B and C units). During these Pleistocene stages there was an abrupt change of the extension direction (from NE-SW to NW-SE) accompanying a change of the nappe transport direction of the Southern Apennines. The construction of balanced sections using dedicated software, permitted us to recognize the true geometry of the faults and compute the amount of Quaternary extension of the SCM that results comparable to those calculated for other sectors of the Tyrrhenian margin and further extensional regions worldwide

Tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the Southern Campania Margin: a key area for the evolution of the Tyrrhenian-Apennine system

The Southern Campania Margin (SCM) represents a key area of the Central Mediterranean because it records all the rifting stages of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The interpretation of a seismic dataset calibrated with deep wells and outcrops, using seismic stratigraphy and structural geology methods in a dedicated Geographic Information System (GIS) environment, the seismic depth conversion, the generation of 2-D and 3-D models led to the reconstruction of a polyphased tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the SCM. During the early stage of Tyrrhenian opening a terrigenous transtensional Basin (Langhian-Tortonian Cilento Basin) formed on the Liguride accretionary prism adjacent to the Calabria crystalline terrane. In the SCM the Liguride thrust sheets tectonically overly the Apennine Platform units and both these nappes have been dismembered by Quaternary faults. Three rifting stages, not homogeneously distributed, affected the region since the Lower Pleistocene. They are associated to the deposition of a thick Quaternary succession (A, B and C units). During these Pleistocene stages there was an abrupt change of the extension direction (from NE-SW to NW-SE) accompanying a change of the nappe transport direction of the Southern Apennines. The construction of balanced sections using dedicated software, permitted us to recognize the true geometry of the faults and compute the amount of Quaternary extension of the SCM that results comparable to those calculated for other sectors of the Tyrrhenian margin and further extensional regions worldwide

Una proposta per la valorizzazione dell'IAMC

Premessa Il 21 Dicembre del 2012 il Direttore dell’IAMC, Dott. Salvatore Mazzola, provvedeva alla costituzione di gruppo di lavoro (GdL) per la ”Individuazione degli strumenti per la valorizzazione ed autovalutazione dell’IAMC”, nominando Sabina Porfido coordinatore, Alfonsa Milia, Gaetana Irrera e Patricia Sclafani componenti del GdL. Il gruppo di lavoro aveva lo scopo di supportare la Direzione nella promozione ed attuazione di attività finalizzate all’individuazione di strumenti di valorizzazione ed autovalutazione delle attività dell’IAMC (Protocollo n. 0007770 del 21/12/2012). Sulla base di tale provvedimento il GdL stilava un primo documento, consegnato al Direttore all’inizio del mese di marzo 2013 e presentato dallo stesso nella riunione del consiglio d’istituto dell’8 Marzo 2013, come risulta dal verbale n.17 dello stesso Consiglio. Di seguito si riporta il documento appena citato nella sua forma integrale

Marsili and Cefalù basins: The evolution of a rift system in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Central Mediterranean)

The Marsili Basin (in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea), whose mode of extension is still a controversial issue, is the youngest bathyal basin of the Central Mediterranean. A thin sedimentary cover in the basin permits to image basement fabric and structure by swath mapping and seismic reflection data. We investigate the crustal structure of the southern Tyrrhenian Sea, extending from the bathyal Marsili Basin to the adjacent Sicily continental margin. Interpretation of seismic reflection profiles (calibrated by well and dredge data) and crustal cross-sections were used to identify the stratigraphic infill, structural pattern and large-scale crustal features of the region. We recognized three basins in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea: (1) the Termini basin that is an overfilled sedimentary basin on the continental shelf area; (2) the Cefalù basin, located on the continental slope area and filled by thick deep water turbidite deposits; (3) the distal Marsili basin, filled by hemipelagic and thin distal turbidite deposits. The sequence stratigraphy interpretation permitted us to recognize fourth-order depositional sequences and the stratigraphic signature of the rift stages. An important increase in the sedimentary supply from the continental shelf to the bathyal basin occurred approximately over the last 0.5 Ma and is related to the uplift of the coastal area. The stratigraphic constrains indicate a Lower Pleistocene age for the opening of the southern Tyrrhenian Sea basin. The structural map reveals a complex fault pattern, in which coeval normal faults disclose a triangular basin from the Marsili bathyal basin to the Sicily continental margin, associated to an Euler pole in the northern Sicily. Tacking in account the faults pattern that developed in the whole Southern Tyrrhenian Sea during the Lower Pleistocene, we reconstructed two opposite triangular basins separated by a perpendicular rift. For analogy with the contiguous Vavilov basin, we propose that the extension in the Marsili basin reached the mantle exhumation stage