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Science 25 October 1996:
Vol. 274. no. 5287, pp. 592 - 594
DOI: 10.1126/science.274.5287.592
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Reports

Seismic Evidence for a Low-Velocity Zone in the Upper Crust Beneath Mount Vesuvius

A. Zollo, P. Gasparini, J. Virieux, H. le Meur, G. de Natale, G. Biella, E. Boschi, P. Capuano, R. de Franco, P. dell'Aversana, R. de Matteis, I. Guerra, G. Iannaccone, L. Mirabile, G. Vilardo

A two-dimensional active seismic experiment was performed on Mount Vesuvius: Explosive charges were set off at three sites, and the seismic signal along a dense line of 82 seismometers was recorded. A high-velocity basement, formed by Mesozoic carbonates, was identified 2 to 3 kilometers beneath the volcano. A slower (P-wave velocity VP sim= 3.4 to 3.8 kilometers per second) and shallower high-velocity zone underlies the central part of the volcano. Large-amplitude late arrivals with a dominant horizontal wave motion and low-frequency content were identified as a P to S phase converted at a depth of about 10 kilometers at the top of a low-velocity zone (VP < 3 kilometers per second), which might represent a melting zone.

A. Zollo, P. Gasparini, P. dell'Aversana, G. Iannaccone, Dipartimento di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Università di Napoli "Federico II," Largo S. Marcellino 10, 80138, Napoli, Italy.
J. Virieux, Institut de Geodynamique, CNRS Sophia-Antipolis, France.
H. le Meur and R. de Matteis, Dipartimento di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Università di Napoli "Federico II," Largo S. Marcellino 10, 80138, and Osservatorio Vesuviano, Napoli, Italy.
G. de Natale, P. Capuano, G. Vilardo, Osservatorio Vesuviano, Napoli, Italy.
G. Biella and R. de Franco, Instituto per le Ricerche sul Rischio Sismico, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Milano, Italy.
E. Boschi, Instituto Nazionale di Geofisica, Roma, Italy.
I. Guerra, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università della Calabria, Cosenza, Italy.
L. Mirabile, Instituto di Oceanologia, Instituto Universitario Navale, Napoli, Italy.

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