C?? a cathedral in the Gulf of Naples

A swelling of the seabed with gaseous emissions was discovered in the Gulf of Naples during an oceanographic campaign coordinated by CNR, INGV and the University of Florence. The results have been published on
Scientific Reports-Nature?
A dome (bulge) on the seabed with associated gaseous emissions has been located for the first time in the Gulf of Naples at a distance of about 5 km from the port of Naples and 2.5 km from Posillipo. It was identified by a team of researchers from the Institute for the Coastal Marine Environment and Geosciences and Georesources of the National Research Council (IAMC and IGG of the CNR), the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) and the Department of Sciences of Terra of the University of Florence, during the surveys of the SAFE 2014 campaign (Seafloor Acoustic Detection of Fluid Emissions) on board the oceanographic vessel Urania of the CNR. The study (Seafloor doming driven by degassing processes unveils sprouting volcanism in coastal areas) was published in Scientific Reports-Nature.
“This structure”, explains Salvatore Passaro of the IAMC-CNR, “is located halfway between the active volcanoes of Campi Flegrei and Vesuvius at depths varying between 100 and 170 metres. Its height is about 15 meters and it covers an area of ​​25 km2”.
During the surveys, 35 active gaseous emissions and over 650 small craters attributable to recent degassing activities were discovered. This whole area was formed by the ascent, still active and in any case more recent than 12.000 years, of gas of deep (mantle) and crustal origin. The ascent of the gases takes place along conduits with diameters varying between 50 and 200 meters which cut, bend and fracture the current marine sediments.
“The data collected in the Gulf of Naples”, says Guido Ventura, a researcher at INGV, “shows us that we are in the presence of an activity that can be correlated to a volcanic phenomenology not associated, for now, with a direct ascent of magma; however, as now known from previous experiences in Japan, the Canary Islands, the Red Sea, these events can, in some cases, precede the formation of submarine volcanoes or hydrothermal explosions”.
A phenomenology similar to that found in the Gulf of Naples also characterizes the activity of the Campi Flegrei.
"The study of this area today represents a starting point for understanding submarine volcanic phenomena in coastal areas", concludes Guido Ventura.
 
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