The crew members of ITS Levanzo have carried out surveys off the Sicilian coasts to gather data on the basalt magmas of Mount Etna conditioning the eruption activity of the Volcano.
The task was to investigate in depth the tectonic and sub-volcanic structures of the volcanic crust and surrounding areas on the ground and at sea.
The TOMO-ETNA experiment, with the participation of the Italian Navy, was an integral part of two European projects: MED-SUV and EUROFLEETS2, coordinated by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia.
During this second phase (the first was carried out by ITS Galatea), the surveys were done by means of a 3 km long streamer, hauled by the Spanish oceanographic ship Sarmiento De Gamboa with equidistant hydrophones.
The new data, integrated with the geophysics data already collected, will update the information on the crustal structure of North/Western Sicily and surrounding marine areas; this information will be used by experts to draw a picture of the geodynamic structure of the region under investigation and understand better the physical processes which favour the ascent of basalt magmas of Mount Etna.
Press Release, July 21, 2014; Image: Shipspotting