Premium
Insight into Mt. Etna (Italy) kinematics during the 2002–2003 eruption as inferred from seismic stress and strain tensors
Author(s) -
Barberi G.,
Cocina O.,
Maiolino V.,
Musumeci C.,
Privitera E.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2004gl020918
Subject(s) - geology , flank , seismology , volcano , dike , focal mechanism , lateral eruption , kinematics , tectonics , cauchy stress tensor , fault (geology) , intrusion , stress (linguistics) , petrology , magma , geochemistry , explosive eruption , linguistics , philosophy , physics , classical mechanics , sociology , anthropology
Seismic activity linked to the 2002–03 Mt. Etna eruption was investigated by analyzing the M d > 2.3 earthquakes. The results of 3D relocation were used to compute fault plane solutions and a selected dataset was inverted to determine stress and strain tensors. The analysis revealed a complex kinematic response of the eastern flank dominated by fast stress propagation and reorientation. We hypothesize that a vertical dike intruded the southern flank, generating an extensional regime that triggered a radial intrusion in the northeast sector of the volcano. The combined effects gave rise to a rotation of the stress tensor that controlled the activation of the Pernicana fault system. The volcanic and tectonic interactions produced a second reorientation of the stress tensor, causing a structural response in the southeast lower flank. The overall result of the deformation processes observed during the eruption was an E‐W extension on the eastern flank of the volcano.