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Detailed Analysis of Wave Propagation Beneath the Campi Flegrei Caldera (Italy)
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Abstract
We investigate the complex propagation of seismic waves beneath the Campi Flegrei Caldera, Italy, using
multichannel recordings of artificial explosions. The sources consisted of air gun explosions shot in the Gulf of
Pozzuoli at offsets ranging between 3 and 7 km. The multichannel recording device was deployed in the
Solfatara crater and consisted of 10 vertical-component and 2 three-component short-period seismometers with a
maximum aperture of about 150m. The Zero-Lag-Correlation (ZLC) technique was adopted to estimate
horizontal slowness and backazimuth of coherent waves crossing the array. For sources located in the northern
sector of the Gulf, with maximum offset 5 km, ray parameters and backazimuths are in agreement with those
predicted for the 1-D velocity model used for routine locations. For sources at offsets larger than ~5 km, the
ZLC curves depict prominent maxima associated with a secondary phase propagating with a lower velocity than
the first-arrival P-wave. Using finite-difference synthetic seismograms generated for a 2-D realistic velocity
model, we explain these late arrivals in terms of a lateral velocity variation located at depths of about 1 km. Such
discontinuity would correspond to a positive Vp anomaly imaged by a recent 3-D tomographic study, and
interpreted as the submerged southern rim of Campi Flegrei caldera collapsed during the explosive eruption of
12 Ky b.p. The small spacing among adjacent shot points allowed simultaneous wavefield decomposition at the
source and receiver arrays. Using a modified version of the double-beam method, we retrieve the independent
variation of horizontal slowness at both the source and receiver regions. For both cases, we found azimuthal
deviations as large as 50° with respect to the great circle path. At the source region, these discrepancies may be
interpreted in terms of ray bending at the interface of the aforementioned positive anomaly. At the receiver array,
the observed anomalies may be attributed to either velocity variations marking the Solfatara crater rim, or to a
near-receiver, low-velocity body whose position would coincide with negative gravimetric anomalies and a high
Vp/Vs ratio region inferred by independent geophysical and seismological studies