The morphological evolution of the Sciara del Fuoco since 1868: reconstructing the effusive activity at Stromboli volcano

Abstract

The morphological evolution of the Sciara del Fuoco, Stromboli, is described from a time series dataset formed by Digital Elevation Models and orthophotos derived by digitising historical contour maps compiled in 1868 and 1937 and by processing data from aerial surveys carried out between 1954 and 2009. All maps were co-registered in the same reference system and used to build a quantitative reconstruction of the morphological changes of the Sciara del Fuoco slope. The changes mainly relate to the emplacement of many lava flows and their successive erosion. A comparative quantitative analysis yields estimates of areas and volumes of the lava fields formed on the sub-aerial part of the Sciara del Fuoco during a number of effusive events between 1937 and 2001, some of them never assessed before. The results of the analysis constrain the interpretation of the evolution and the magnitude of the recent effusive activity at the Stromboli volcano. Despite some uncertainties due to widely spaced observation periods, the results integrate all available topographic knowledge and contribute to an understanding of the main characteristics of the recent effusive eruptive styles at Stromboli volcano

Susceptibility of intrusion-related landslides at volcanic islands: the Stromboli case study

“…Moreover, the geo-database includes the following ( & the location of past recognizable eruptive vents and fissures, derived from eruption accounts, reports, and scientific papers (Rittmann 1931;Abruzzese 1935Abruzzese , 1937Abruzzese , 1940Gasparini et al 1968;Capaldi et al 1978;Corazzato et al 2008;Neri and Lanzafame 2009;Calvari et al 2011;Marsella et al 2012;Di Traglia et al 2015);…”

Stromboli – the best place to actively learn and understand the behavior of an active volcano and its processes

“…The average eruption rate for normal Strombolian activity was estimated as 0.01 m 3 /second. It corresponds to about 300.000 m 3 during one year (Marsella et al 2012). Among violent explosions, typical events consist of jets of gas and pyroclasts, lasting for 30-40 seconds and a few hundred metres high, which rapidly (tens of seconds) evolve into short-lived plumes reaching a height of about 1 km (Rosi et al, 2013).…”

“…Higher frequency and volume of effusive eruptions were documented starting from the first half of the past century than the second half (Marsella et al, 2012). Two large effusive eruptions occurred in the last decade (2003 and 2007) are characterized by high effusion rates (2.6 · 10 6 m 3 s -1 ).…”

Remote Sensing and Geodetic Measurements for Volcanic Slope Monitoring: Surface Variations Measured at Northern Flank of La Fossa Cone (Vulcano Island, Italy)

“…The geomorphological changes of areas affected by crustal deformation, eruptive events, gravitative instabilities, landslide and glacier evolution and other phenomena can be detected and quantified by means of the comparison between multi-temporal models providing a space-time description of geophysical processes [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Several techniques, including global positioning system (GPS) static and kinematic methodology [7], digital aerial and terrestrial photogrammetry [8], airborne and terrestrial laser scanning [9], satellite-based and ground-based interferometric radar [10] and optical satellite imagery systems [11], are suitable surveying methods that provide appropriate spatial resolution.…”