The mysterious world of undersea volcanoes and lava off the Italian coast

Hidden beneath the waves of the Tyrrhenian Sea near southwestern Italy is a newly discovered volcanic complex, dotted with geothermal chimneys and subturned peaks.

Geographically speaking, this population is still relatively new to both science and the planet; It was only formed about 780,000 years ago."Scientists will not be surprised to find volcanic populations in areas where there is a volcano ," said Fabrizio Pepe, a lead scientist and geophysicist working at the University of Palermo, Italy. Volcanoes act as Mount Vesuvius and Mount Etna. But this new population is very unusual because it was created in a very rare structure. "

Pepe insists ' This is a very complex area ".

The volcanic complex was discovered just below the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Italy.

The area is always volatile

The Western Mediterranean is a region of seismic continual impact from three tectonic plates: Africa, Eurasia and Anatolian. Making matters more complicated is a small piece of the Adriatic-Ionian tectonic plate crust that broke Africa over 65 million years ago and is currently being pushed under the larger Eurasian plate in the process of having called submerged suction . Mount Vesuvius is one of the volcanoes created during this sinking process.

Previously, scientists discovered a series of volcanic arc undersea created by this tectonic instability, starting near the Sardinian coast with arcs becoming younger to the south. and east.

These arcs look like an arrow pointing out to the east, instructing Pepe and his colleagues to continue their search for a new, younger arc in the waters off Calabria - ' the big toe of the Italian 'boots' - 15km away.

There, based on a map of the seafloor, seismic data and magnetic changes, researchers found a lava area, volcanoes and hydrothermal chimneys of 2,000m ² ; Undersea vents allow hot minerals to erupt and form chimney-like structures. They named this new area the Diamante-Enotrio-Ovidio Invasive Volcanic Complex, named after the three peaks of the subterranean peaks in the sea.

Step one

The cracks are what allow magma to emerge on the surface of the Diamante-Enotrio-Ovidio complex, creating lava and volcanoes on the ocean floor. These volcanic peaks are now in the plateau form because when the sea level drops, they protrude out of the ocean and erode into the current flat shape.

In a July 6 report in the journal Tectonics, the researchers pointed out that although this volcanic complex no longer works, there are still small intrusions of lava flows in some parts of the bottom. sea.

Pepe also added: 'However, this area may become active again in the future and in fact, volcanic activity is still ongoing in the eastern part of the Tyrrhenian Sea . ' Researchers are still working on a volcanic hazard map of the complex so that it can be easily captured as to whether it will endanger people and property. They are also studying the possibility of harnessing the complex to generate geothermal energy.

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