Marsili
{{short description|Large undersea volcano in the Tyrrhenian Sea south of Naples}}
{{for|the surname|Marsili (surname)}}
{{Infobox Seamount
| name=Marsili
| pushpin_map= Italy
| label=Marsili
| mark=Black triangle2.svg
| label_position=right
| map_size=300px
| depth= {{Convert|-450|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| height= {{Convert|3000|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}
| location=Tyrrhenian Sea
| group=
| coordinates ={{coord|39|15|00|N|14|23|40|E|type:mountain |display=inline,title}}
| country =Italy
| type=Submarine volcano
| volcanic_group=Aeolian Arc
| age=
| last_eruption=1050 BC ± 200 years{{cite web|url=https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2015-043-chp.3.pdf |title=IUCN Atlas of the Mediterranean Seamounts. Seamounts and Seamount-Like Structures of the Tyrrhenian Sea |access-date=31 July 2019}}
| discovered=
| discovered_by=
| first_visit=
| photo=Aeolian Arc.jpg
| photo_caption = Aeolian arc, including coastline and depth contour lines for every 500 meters.
}}
Marsili is a large undersea volcano in the Tyrrhenian Sea, about {{convert|175|km|mi|sp=us}} south of Naples. The seamount is about 3,000 m (9,800 feet) tall; its peak and crater are about 450 m below the sea surface. Though it has not erupted in recorded history, volcanologists believe that Marsili is a relatively fragile-walled structure, made of low-density and unstable rocks,Caratori Tontini F., Cocchi L., Muccini F., Carmisciano C., Marani M., Bonatti E., Ligi M., and Boschi E., Potential-field modelling of collapse-prone submarine volcanoes in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy), Geophysical Research Letter 37 (2010), L03305, {{doi|10.1029/2009GL041757}}. fed by the underlying shallow magma chamber. Volcanologists with the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) announced on March 29, 2010, that Marsili could erupt at any time, and might experience a catastrophic collapse that would suddenly release vast amounts of magma in an undersea eruption and landslide that could trigger destructive tsunamis on the Italian coast and nearby Mediterranean coastlines.{{cite web |url=http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Undersea_volcano_threatens_southern_Italy_report_999.html |title=Undersea volcano threatens southern Italy: report |author= |date=March 29, 2010 |publisher=AFP |accessdate=August 16, 2014}}
Geomorphology
Marsili belongs to the Aeolian Islands volcanic arc. It is one of the largest volcanoes in Europe, with a length of {{convert|70|km}} and a width of {{convert|30|km}},{{cite news |url=http://www.corriere.it/scienze_e_tecnologie/10_marzo_29/vulcano_sommerso_6246e95a-3afc-11df-80d0-00144f02aabe.shtml |title=Torna a far paura il vulcano sommerso nel Tirreno |first=Giovanni |last=Caprara |date=2010-03-29 |newspaper=Corriere della Sera |accessdate=2011-03-18|language=Italian}} larger than Mount Etna. It was discovered during the 1920s and named after Italian geologist Luigi Ferdinando Marsili. Extensive studies have been carried on only since 2005 as the Italian National Research Council started a vulcanology research program on the site.
The volcano rises from a plateau of thin oceanic (or pseudo-oceanic) crust with a thickness of only 10 km, which forms its own sea basin. The basin crust is made of tholeiitic basalt which is most typical of inflated basins at the back of oceanic volcanic arcs. The Marsili basin appears to have formed very recently (2 million years) as a consequence of the growth of the volcanic arc, and Marsili could be the result of the thermal inflation of the thin crust at the center of the basin. The start of the volcano activity could date back as recently as 200,000 years ago. Evidence of lava flows on the mountain flanks was found. Evidence of catastrophic collapses of previous other undersea volcanoes in the same area was also found.
Potential risks
Marsili is an active volcano,{{Cite news
|url = http://www.lescienze.it/lanci/2014/01/14/news/cnr_marsili_un_vulcano_ancora_attivo-1963064/?ref=nl-Le-Scienze_17-01-2014
|title = CNR: Marsili, un vulcano ancora attivo
|newspaper = Le Scienze
|location = Roma
|publisher = Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso
|date = 2014-01-14
|accessdate = 2014-01-17
}} with numerous satellite volcanic systems. The magma of Marsili is similar in composition to other volcanoes in the Aeolian Arc. The magma of Marsili came from the Ionian subduction of the seafloor of the Tethys Ocean.{{Cite journal | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248816715 | title = Architecture and Neogene to recent evolution of the Western Calabrian continental margin: An upper plate perspective to the Ionian subduction system, Central Mediterranean |journal=Tectonics|volume=29|issue=3|date=June 2010|doi=10.1029/2009TC002599 |first1=Fabrizio|last1=Pepe|first2=Attilio|last2=Sulli|first3=Giovanni|last3=Bertotti|first4=Federico|last4=Cella | bibcode = 2010Tecto..29.3007P | s2cid = 129595554 |doi-access=free}} The volcanic activity started less than 200,000 years ago. Traces of volcanic collapse have been found on the sides of other submarine volcanoes, which may have resulted from tsunamis along the Tyrrhenian coast of southern Italy.
Marsili is on a list of the most dangerous submarine volcanoes of the Tyrrhenian Sea, along with Magnaghi, Vavilov, and Palinuro.{{cite web |url=http://www.meteoweb.eu/2011/03/le-coste-italiane-a-rischio-tsunami-e-la-legge-che-verra%E2%80%A6-il-giorno-dopo/69313/ |first=Franco |last=Ortolani |title=Le coste italiane a rischio tsunami e la legge che verrà... il giorno dopo |publisher=meteoweb.it |accessdate=2011-03-18 }} As with Vavilov, Marsili is at risk of a major collapse from a single event.{{Cite journal|journal=Geophysical Research Letters|volume=37|doi=10.1029/2009GL041757|year=2010|title=Potential‐field modeling of collapse‐prone submarine volcanoesin the southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy)|first1=F|last1=Caratori Tontini|first2=L|last2=Cocchi|first3=F|last3=Muccini|first4=C|last4=Carmisciano|first5=M|last5=Marani|first6=E|last6=Bonatti|first7=M|last7=Ligi|first8=E|last8=Boschi|issue=3|pages=n/a|bibcode=2010GeoRL..37.3305C|s2cid=134799142 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233297888|hdl=11567/1047746|hdl-access=free}} In addition, hydrogeological deep-water surveys show that there is geothermal activity on Marsili.{{cite journal|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236159834|title=Active hydrothermal discharge on the submarine Aeolian Arc |year=2011 |first1=John|last1=Lupton|first2=Cornel|last2=de Ronde|first3=Mario|last3=Sprovieri|first4=Edward T.|last4=Baker|first5=Pier Paolo|last5=Bruno|first6=Franco|last6=Italiano|first7=Sharon|last7=Walker|first8=Kevin|last8=Faure|first9=Matthew|last9=Leybourne|first10=Karen|last10=Britten|first11=Ronald|last11=Greene|display-authors=4|journal=J. Geophys. Res. |volume=116 |issue=B2 |pages=B02102 |doi=10.1029/2010JB007738 |bibcode=2011JGRB..116.2102L |doi-access=free}}
Marsili has been studied since 2005 as a strategic project of the Italian National Research Council{{cite web|url=http://roma2.rm.ingv.it/it/risorse/osservatori_sottomarini_multidisciplinari|publisher=INGV|title=Osservatori sottomarini multidisciplinari|language=Italian}} by means of a sonar system and integrated monitoring networks for ocean observations. In February 2010, the research vessel Urania began a study on the submerged volcano. Considerable instability has been detected. A significantly large region of the Marsili summit is also made up of low-density rocks, strongly weakened by hydrothermal alteration phenomena; which could cause a large collapse event.{{cite web|last=Tropea|first=Serena|url=http://www.dire.it/home/2579-ingv-vulcano-marsili-eruzione.dire|title=Vulcani. D'Anna (Ingv): "Il Marsili erutterà? Non c'è nessuna evidenza scientifica"|accessdate=2013-03-07|publisher=Dire.it|language=Italian|quote="The idea of a tsunami is not farfetched, but the main source will not be an eruption, but maybe a landslide."|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130503085341/http://www.dire.it/home/2579-ingv-vulcano-marsili-eruzione.dire|archivedate=2013-05-03}}
File:CalabrianArc-GeotectonicSection.jpg|Geological, geotectonic, structural section of the Central Mediterranean Subduction System
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{cite gvp|name=Marsili|vn=211080|access-date=2021-06-25}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Volcanoes of the Tyrrhenian