Marina Iorio

High-resolution single-channel Sparker (1 kJ) profiles have been carried out to reconstruct the seismo-stratigraphic architecture of a sector of the Campania–Latium Tyrrhenian margin (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy). Seven seismic lines between the Volturno river mouth and the southern Latium margin were processed in IHS Kingdom^® software (4.0) at the University of Sannio (Benevento, Italy) and interpreted at the CNR-ISMAR (Naples, Italy) using seismic- and sequence-stratigraphic criteria. The Sparker dataset refines correlations with previously interpreted Chirp profiles and improves the imaging of fault patterns and key stratigraphic markers. Several seismo-stratigraphic units displaced by normal faults were recognized. Unit 1 represents the acoustic substratum of the high-resolution record, whereas Unit 2 corresponds to a thick relict prograding wedge that thickens toward the Volturno river mouth. A mounded lowstand unit is interpreted as deposits related to the Volturno river delta/fan system. Volcanic units, including the Villa Literno volcanic complex and local volcanic edifices, are locally identified. Overall, the results show that Sparker processing and interpretation provide robust constraints on the stratigraphic architecture and Late Quaternary tectono-sedimentary evolution of deltaic continental shelves. In particular, while previous Chirp studies have effectively constrained the stratigraphic architecture of the Late Quaternary depositional sequence and the geometry of the NYT reflector, this study provides new insights about deeper progradational seismo-stratigraphic units and related volcanic deposits and their tectono-stratigraphic setting.

The Neapolitan Yellow Tuff caldera-forming eruption (ca. 15 kyr) is a large event that occurred at Phlegrean Fields during the Late Glacial–Holocene time span. The eruptive products represent a widespread isochronous marker that links the marine and terrestrial stratigraphic record of the central Mediterranean and Northern Europe sequences. In this research, we describe the stratigraphic signature of the NYT deposits in the Late Glacial–Holocene shelf sequence of the Gulf of Gaeta (northern Campania region, southern Tyrrhenian Sea) throughout the seismo-stratigraphic interpretation of a grid of high and very high-resolution Chirp seismic profiles. The seismo-stratigraphic data allowed to individuate in the Upper Pleistocene–Holocene stratigraphic architecture a continental shelf characterized by an offlap prograding succession followed by a very thick transgressive onlapping unit, and by an upper highstand unit mainly characterized by undulations probably linked to gas-prone sediment. The NYT reflector observed was parallel and with a high amplitude. It was continuously detected from the shelf to the slope within transgressive deposits. On the inner shelf, its continuity was interrupted by shallow gas pockets. The NYT depths ranges from 2 m b.s.f. on the slope to 38 m b.s.f. on the continental shelf. The NYT event appeared to have played a key role in controlling the stratigraphic architecture of the studied area during the last transgression, acting as a trigger for the formation of the aggradational sedimentary successions fed by pyroclastic and volcaniclastic deposits.

Submarine canyons are geomorphologic lineaments engraving the slope/outer shelf of continental margins. These features are often associated with significant geologic hazard when they develop close to densely populated coastal zones. The seafloor of Naples Bay is deeply cut by two incisions characterized by a dense network of gullies, namely the Dohrn and Magnaghi canyons, which develop from the shelf break of the Campania margin, down to the peripheral rise of the Eastern Tyrrhenian bathyal plain. Seismic-stratigraphic interpretation of multichannel seismic reflection profiles has shown that quaternary tectonics and recent to active volcanism have exerted a significant control on the morphological evolution and source-to sink depositional processes of the Dohrn and Magnaghi submarine canyons. The Dohrn canyon is characterized by relatively steep walls hundreds of meters high, which incise a Middle-Late Pleistocene prograding wedge, formed by clastic and volcaniclastic deposits associated with the paleo-Sarno river system during the Mid-Late Pleistocene. The formation of the Dohrn canyon predates the onset of the volcanic eruption of the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff (NYT), an ignimbrite deposit of ca. 15 ka that represents the bedrock on which the town of Napoli is built. Integrated stratigraphic analysis of high-resolution seismic profiles and marine gravity core data (C74_12) collected along the flanks of the eastern bifurcation of the head of Dohrn Canyon suggests that depositional processes along the canyon flanks are dominated by gravity flows (e.g., fine-grained turbidites, debris flows) and sediment mass transport associated with slope instability and failure.

In this study we show an 2D Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) survey acquired in Agnano site pre (Dec 5th, 2019) and post (Dec 12th, 2019) earthquake events occurred in Pisciarelli-Solfatara areas. This earthquake swarm consisted of sequence of 34 earthquakes with Magnitude (Md) -1.1≤Md≤2.8 at depths between 0.9 and 2.3 km. In particular, the earthquake of Dec 06th, 2019 at 00:17 UTC with Md = 2.8 (depth 2 km) was the maximum recorded event since bradyseismic crisis began in 2005. The ERT survey allow us to identify the main structural boundaries (and their associated fluid circulations) defining the shallow architecture of the Agnano volcano. The hydrothermal system is identified by very low values of the electrical resistivity (100 Ω m). The resistivity values are increased after the main shock. This increase in resistivity may have been caused by a change in the state of stress and a decrease in pore pressure (subsequent depressurization). Previously to the earthquake, an increase in pressurized fluids has been observed which have reduced the resistivity values. The present observation suggests that the temporal variation of the resistivity values is related to the variation of the pore fluid pressure in the source area of the swarm, facilitated by earthquake and the subsequent fluid diffusion. The combination of these qualitative results with structural analysis leads to a synthetic model of magmatic and hydrothermal fluids circulation inside the Agnano area, which may be useful for the assessment of potential hazards associated with a renewal of fluid pressurization, and a possibly associated partial flank-failure.

In this study, the sustainability of low-temperature geothermal field exploitation in a carbonate reservoir near Mondragone (CE), Southern Italy, is analyzed. The Mondragone geothermal field has been extensively studied through the research project VIGOR (Valutazione del potenzIale Geotermico delle RegiOni della convergenza). From seismic, geo-electric, hydro-chemical and groundwater data, obtained through the experimental campaigns carried out, physiochemical features of the aquifers and characteristics of the reservoir have been determined. Within this project, a well-doublet open-loop district heating plant has been designed to feed two public schools in Mondragone town. The sustainability of this geothermal application is analyzed in this study. A new exploration well (about 300 m deep) is considered to obtain further stratigraphic and structural information about the reservoir. Using the derived hydrogeological model of the area, a numerical analysis of geothermal exploitation was carried out to assess the thermal perturbation of the reservoir and the sustainability of its exploitation. The effect of extraction and reinjection of fluids on the reservoir was evaluated for 60 years of the plant activity. The results are fundamental to develop a sustainable geothermal heat plant and represent a real case study for the exploitation of similar carbonate reservoir geothermal resources.

An integrated review of existing geological and geophysical data – partly acquired during oil and gas exploration – combined with new data provided by deep geothermal studies of selected key areas, was used for the 3D modeling and mapping of the top of the geothermal reservoir developed at a regional scale in Sicily (Central Mediterranean). The resulting 1:500,000 scale map covers the area of the whole Sicily (about 25,700 km²) and is devoted to represent the main input for both the thermal modeling and the evaluation of geothermal potential at a regional scale. As the map indicates the distribution at depth of a likely target for geothermal drilling, it can be also used as a rough indicator of expected drilling cost for geothermal projects. Such a map can be seen as a useful planning tool for any geothermal project, and related exploration to be carried out in the Sicily region in the future.