40 years of measurements and observations of the seismicity and slow deformations of the soil of the island of Vulcano (Aeolian), acquired with various techniques, are the result of the collaboration between the researchers of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) of the sections " Etna Observatory" and "Vesuvian Observatory".
The study, which was published in the journal Earth Science Reviews (Link), brings together all the seismicity and ground movements recorded up to now, looking for a common thread that traces the very recent evolution of the phenomena observed on the island since the implementation of a geophysical and geodetic monitoring system began, aimed at studying the dynamics endogenous and precursors of eruptive activity. The data collected from the 70s to the present have been used, from the first measurements with optical instruments to the most recent satellite GNSS systems, stitching together the historical series of the various systems into a single evolutionary line.
The work highlights the overlap of various tectonic and volcanic dynamics. It dominates the regional tectonics, linked to the transience (crustal transcurrent movements) along the Tindari-Letoianni line (North-Eastern Sicily) which continues northwards in the lower Tyrrhenian Sea along the alignment of the islands of Vulcano, Lipari and Salina. This tectonic dynamic constitutes the constant on which the dynamics most closely linked to the volcanic system develop. No eruptive activity has affected the island of Vulcano since it was observed with geophysical methodologies and sensors (the last eruption took place in 1888-90) but some of the variations observed can be correlated with variations in the state of the power supply and circulation system of the fluids that feed the island's important hydrothermal system. The deformations and microseismicity affecting the cone of the Fossa, in fact, are mainly linked to the pressurization of hydrothermal fluids, while a wider subsidence involving the northern part of the island seems to be linked to the depressurization of a magmatic source located under the peninsula of Vulcanello.
The continuation of the observations will allow further studies and insights, also starting from this level of knowledge, to better detail the volcano-tectonic system and its dynamics, detecting, with ever greater accuracy, the variations and any unrest phases.