Les ruptures de surface liées à l'éruption du 28 mars 1983 de l'Etna (Sicile)

Resume L'éruption du 28-3-1983 a été précédée, dans la nuit entre le 27 et 28 Mars, par l'ouverture de fractures sur le flanc sud de l'Etna entre les côtes 2900 et 2300. Ces ruptures correspondent à des failles à rejet surtout vertical et à des fentes. La disposition générale dessine un graben d'orientation N-S à NE-SW, dont la largeur se réduit progressivement de 80 m à environ 25 m au point d'émission des laves, alors que le rejet vertical des failles augmente vers le sud (maximum 1 m 50). En quelques points on a pu noter une légère composante en décrochement. L'extension horizontale provoquée par l'ouverture de ce graben a été estimée à environ 3 m.Ces donnés sont confrontées à celles obtenues par d'autres méthodes et leur interprétation est discutée en rapport avec le mécanisme de l'éruption et les relations entre magmatisme et tectonique.

---

The Etna eruption of March 28th, 1983 was preceded, during the night between March 27th and 28th, by the opening of fractures on the southern flank of Mt. Etna between 2300 and 2900 meters a.s.l. The fractures are essentially dip-slip faults andfentes. The resulting general pattern is that of a graben oriented from N-S to NE-SW that becomes progressively narrow passing from about 80 m to 25 m in width at the lava flow emission site, while the vertical fault throw increases towards the south reaching there the maximum value of 1.50 m. In a few places it was possible to detect a slight horizontal component of movement. The horizontal opening due to the graben formation has been estimated to be about 3 m in width.These data have then been compared with others obtained using different methods and their interpretation has been discussed in relation to the eruption mechanism and the relationships between magmatism and tectonics.

     

Rhyolitic ignimbrites in the region of Afyon (Central Anatolia)

Occurrence and field relations of an extensive ignimbrite sheet near Afyon in Central Anatolia are described. These rhyolitic ignimbrites are part of the important Neogene volcanic activity in Turkey and belong to the alignment of volcanic complexes along the inner border of the Taurian ranges. In close stratigraphical connection and in the same tectonic position as the rhyolites there occurs an assemblage of high-potassic, intermediate to basic volcanic rocks (alkali trachytes, mela-trachytes, latites and leucite-bearing rocks). Petrological and magmatological considerations led to the conclusion that the rhyolites and the potassic series, in spite of the close geological connection, are not related by processes of magmatic differentiation. Arguments in favour of an anatectic origin of the rhyolitic melt are presented. The occurrence of garnet and allanite as accessory minerals and as inclusions in the salic minerals of the ignimbrite are interpreted as relictic witnesses of a sialic parent rock. However, the trace elements, especially high Rb connected with low Sr, Ba and Zr and K/Rb ratios below 100 give a pattern generally explained by strong fractionation processes.     

On particular ignimbrites of the Island of Pantelleria (channel of sicily)

On the Island of Pantelleria (Channel of Sicily) several layers of particular ignimbrites have been found. Their properties can be explained only by admitting a great fluidity of the deposited material. Such a low viscosity is abnormal for sodarhyolitic or sodatrachytic melts and demonstrates that the temperature must have been exceptionally high, as it is possible only in the case of contact anatexis.     

Petrology of filicudi,aeolian archipelago

Volcanic rocks on the island of Filicudi are typical of the cale-alkaline association of the Aeolian archipelago, and range in composition from basalt to high-K andesite. All specimens contain abundant phenocrystic plagioclase (cores of An_82–97, rims becoming progressively more sodic with increasing Differentiation Index), clinopyroxene, and magnetite; the most basic samples contain olivine, which is replaced by orthopyroxene at around D.I.=44. SiO₂ generally increases with time, and this in conjunction with the continuity in mineralogy suggests that the lavas are the differentiation products of a single batch of magma. Least-squares mixing calculations are consistent with a shallow fractional model, as is the variation in trace element abundances.     

Potential Use of Biomarkers in Zooplankton as Early Warning Signals of Ecotoxicological Risk in the Marine Food Chain

Abstract. Zooplankton is an essential component of the marine and brackish food chains. The ecotoxicological risk of zooplanktonic communities, estimated by the modern methodological approach of biomarkers, can be used as an early warning signal of ecosystem health. The aim of this project is to estimate the potential use of several biomarkers (esterases, mixed function oxidases, porphyrins) in zooplanktonic organisms. Studies were carried out with different zooplanktonic crustaceans: the copepods Acartia margalefi and Acartia latisetosa collected in Ganzirri Lake (Messina); the mysid Siriella clausi collected in Faro Lake (Messina); the mysids Diamysis bahirensis, Siriella armata and Mysidopsis gibbosa collected in Stagnone di Marsala (Palermo); the Antarctic euphausiids Euphausia crystallorophias and Euphausia superba; the am-phipod Streetsia challengeri and the euphausiid Meganycthiphanes norvegica collected after a shore-stranding along Messina's Ionian coast. Moreover, experiments were carried out with the benthic decapods Eriphia verrucosa and Pachygrapsus marmoratus from a rocky shore of Messina's Ionian coast. Acetylcholinesterase activity (AChE) was determined in homogenates of whole organisms. The key result of this project concerns the different AChE activity basal values of different crustacean species. Particular attention should be paid to the difference in basal activity found between the Antarctic and the Mediterranean species.     

The feeding of the eruptive activity of Etna volcano. The regional stress field as a constraint to magma uprising and eruption

An analysis of the structural lineaments, as observed on the middle and upper slopes of Etna volcano, was made with the aim of checking stress distribution within the volcanic structure. The observed features suggest that the deformation pattern of the volcanic edifice is compatible with a deviating stress field dominated by an E-W sinistral shear, with the maximum stress axes being oriented NE (σ¹) and NW (σ³) respectively. Such a framework appears to be consistent with the active regional stress field, as deduced from structural data and focal mechanism analyses. The role of the active stress field in the penetration, uprising and eruption of magma in the Etnean area is therefore discussed and some more general suggestions about the geodynamic evolution of eastern Sicily are made.     

Acid and basic late neogene volcanism in central aegean sea: Its nature and geotectonic significance

Local eruptions of acid volcanic rocks occurred in the Central Aegean region around the Miocene-Pliocene boundary. Rhyolites outcrop on the Island of Antiparos, located in the central part of the Attic-Cycladic Massif. The age of these volcanic rocks ranges from 4.0 to 5.4 m.y., and chemical and Sr isotopic data suggest they were generated by partial melting of the continental crust. At the same time, along the border of the Attic-Cycladic Massif,i.e. on the island of Patmos and Caloyeri, local eruptions of Naalkaline basalts occurred. The whole of the eruptive activity is interpreted as an expression of the marked tensional tectonic phase which has affected the Central Aegean area since Middle Miocene. The contrasting nature of the erupted volcanic rocks (crustal and sub-crustal) is attributed to the different thermal state of the lithosphere beneath the two areas, as emphasized also by the presence of a wide granitic belt, of mainly Miocene age, which developed in the median sector of the Attic-Cycladic Massif.