What's up? at the bottom of the sea? MONICA says so

Details: Published: 10 April 2015

New marine fumaroles identified in Pozzuoli and submerged archaeological remains studied in detail thanks to a detailed map of the seabed, recently published in the Journal of Maps. The study, coordinated by Ingv-Osservatorio Vesuviano, in collaboration with the Cnr,
is part of the Monica project

Roman walls, ancient paving stones and finds from two thousand years ago amidst emanations of volcanic gases. It is the underwater landscape of the waters of the bay of Pozzuoli, north of Naples, highlighted by a high-resolution bathymetric map, developed by the Vesuvius Observatory (Ov) of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (Ingv), in collaboration with the 'Institute for the coastal marine environment (Iamc) of the National Research Council (Cnr) of Naples, as part of the Monica project (Innovative monitoring of the coasts and the marine environment). The High-resolution morpho-bathymetry of Pozzuoli Bay, southern Italy study, funded by the Ministry of Education, University and Research (Miur), and recently published in the Journal of Maps, explored the port facilities, residential complexes and thermal baths of the Roman age, such as the Portus Iulius and the villa dei Pisoni, submerged by the sea due to the vertical movements of the soil, within a context rich in fumarolic emissions due to the volcanic nature of the area. The team of Neapolitan researchers reconstructed the morphology of the marine area by identifying, using a multibeam echo sounder, the presence and position of archaeological structures up to about 15 meters deep.
“But there's more,” says Renato Somma, a researcher at Ov-Ingv. “Heretofore unknown areas of volcanic gas emission have been discovered, and marine terraces identified at various depths. The bathymetric survey has given an unprecedented image of the morphology of the seabed of the bay of Pozzuoli and represents a contribution to the understanding of the evolution of the Campi Flegrei caldera, an active volcanic area at high risk, inhabited by almost a million people ". The map, produced on a 1:10000 scale, also represents an important tool for defining multi-risk scenarios and for monitoring the evolution of coastal areas.
"The bay of Pozzuoli", explains the director of Ov-Ingv and coordinator of the Monica project, Giuseppe De Natale, "constitutes the central part of the Campi Flegrei caldera, a large volcano-tectonic structure that was formed following the volcanic eruptions of the Campanian Ignimbrite (the largest explosive eruption that occurred in the Campania area 39.000 years ago) and of the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff (the second most important eruption in the Campania area, 15.000 years ago). The last eruption took place in 1538. In the past, the area was repeatedly affected by ground movements linked to volcanic dynamics and recently two further episodes of bradyseism occurred, in the years 1969-1972 and 1982-1984, which produced an overall lifting of the ground of about three and a half meters, accompanied by swarms of low energy earthquakes. In the last ten years or so, ground movement has resumed and has produced a rise of about 28 centimeters to date.
The Monica project is aimed at the prevention and management of environmental emergencies, especially marine and coastal ones, also through the creation of a fiber optic monitoring system, consisting of sensors installed on the seabed, which will integrate existing systems on land .
“The goal is to build a marine-coastal monitoring system which, together with land-based systems, is able to control natural phenomena such as earthquakes, eruptions, landslides, tsunamis and can be further implemented with sensors capable of detecting biological parameters and marine pollution, as well as anthropic phenomena such as maritime traffic, etc.”, continues De Natale.
The digital terrain model of the emerged area of Pozzuoli (Dtm), produced in the course of this study, was integrated with the one created in previous research campaigns and data relating to the coastal area of Campi Flegrei, acquired in 2004 by the Campania Region .
"Further surveys in progress will lead to the installation of an underground fiber optic submarine cable, which will connect some geophysical monitoring stations located on the seabed to the mainland", concludes the director of Ov-Ingv.
Rome, April 10, 2015

Gulf of Pozzuoli map

multibeam echo sounder on the side of the boat during the survey carried out by Geomarine srl for the Pon Monica project

Execution of side scan sonar survey for the Pon Monica project