A vast majority of marine geological research is based on academic seismic data collected with single‐channel systems or short‐offset multichannel seismic cables, which often lack reflection moveout ...for conventional velocity analysis. Consequently, our understanding of Earth processes often relies on seismic time sections, which hampers quantitative analysis in terms of depth, formation thicknesses, or dip angles of faults. In order to overcome these limitations, we present a robust diffraction extraction scheme that models and adaptively subtracts the reflected wavefield from the data. We use diffractions to estimate insightful wavefront attributes and perform wavefront tomography to obtain laterally resolved seismic velocity information in depth. Using diffraction focusing as a quality control tool, we perform an interpretation‐driven refinement to derive a geologically plausible depth‐velocity model. In a final step, we perform depth migration to arrive at a spatial reconstruction of the shallow crust. Further, we focus the diffracted wavefield to demonstrate how these diffraction images can be used as physics‐guided attribute maps to support the identification of faults and unconformities. We demonstrate the potential of this processing scheme by its application to a seismic line from the Santorini Amorgos Tectonic Zone, located on the Hellenic Volcanic Arc, which is notorious for its catastrophic volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis. The resulting depth image allows a refined fault pattern delineation and, for the first time, a quantitative analysis of the basin stratigraphy. We conclude that diffraction‐based data analysis has a high potential, especially when the acquisition geometry of seismic data does not allow conventional velocity analysis.
Plain Language Summary
The active seismic method is a standard tool for studying and imaging the Earth's lithosphere. Proper imaging of complex geological targets requires seismic data of excellent quality, which are typically only acquired with expensive industrial surveys. Academic surveys, however, are often restricted to marine seismic equipment with limited illumination, which compromises imaging and interpretation. While most of the contemporary processing and interpretational routines are tailored to the reflected wavefield, recent research suggests that the often overlooked diffracted wavefield might help to overcome the gap between academic and industrial seismic imaging. Wave diffraction is the response of the seismic wavefield to small‐scale subsurface structures and allows to estimate velocities even from single‐channel seismic data.
In this study, we use an academic seismic profile from the southern Aegean Sea and extract a rich diffracted wavefield from the data. We utilize these diffractions to estimate a velocity model that permits a reconstruction of the subsurface in depth and specifically highlight discontinuous features related to past dynamic processes. Such depth images allow us to reliably measure thicknesses and fault angles. We conclude that diffraction‐based data analysis has a high potential for academic research and strongly encourage its application in future studies.
Key Points
Based on waveform similarities, we surgically extract a detail‐rich diffracted wavefield from zero‐offset seismic data from the Aegean Sea
Fully driven by data, we infer a laterally resolved velocity model from zero‐offset information through diffraction wavefront tomography
After interpretation‐guided refinement, we derive depth‐migrated reflection and diffraction images which we use for interpretation
A composite 40.2 m sediment sequence from Megali Limni, Lesvos Island, Greece, spanning the interval from 22 to 62 ka BP, contains six Pleistocene tephra layers, which can be identified on the basis ...of their major and trace elemental compositions. The youngest tephra deposit correlates with the 22 ka Y-2 marker, erupted during the Cape Riva eruption of Santorini. The second tephra originates from the Campanian area in Italy and corresponds to the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption (the 39 ka Y-5 marker). The next two layers are compositionally identical, and originate from Eastern islands of the Hellenic Arc; they could potentially correspond to the Upper and Lower Pumice eruptions of Nisyros or some other previously unidentified eruption from Yali. The fifth stratum corresponds to the Y-6 marker, which erupted during the Green Tuff eruption of the Pantelleria Island. The source of the last tephra layer is either the Yali–Nisyros complex or Central Anatolia; no specific corresponding eruption has yet been found. Long distal tephra sequences within terrestrial settings are rare in the eastern Mediterranean and the Megali Limni record contains the most complete sequence to date. Moreover, its age model, based on independent chronologies such as AMS and conventional radiocarbon dates and high-resolution pollen stratigraphy, provides new ages for these eruptions and places them within the context of the millennial-scale palaeoenvironmental variability of the last glacial period. Finally, the recognition of the Pantelleria tephra in this locality considerably extends the confirmed Northerly and Easterly distribution of this widespread and distinctive unit, while the existence of the Nisyros–Yali tephras on Lesvos refutes the current belief of limited tephra dispersal and small magnitude of these eruptions.
The advection–diffusion model TEPHRA2 has been used in conjunction with the downhill simplex method (DSM) and one-at-a-time (OAT) inversion methods to reconstruct the eruption conditions and ...seasonality consistent with the deposit patterns from the Bronze Age (‘Minoan’) eruption of Santorini. We investigated three datasets representing different depositional environments (proximal terrestrial, distal terrestrial and deep-sea core), in order to determine source conditions such as plume height, erupted mass and grain-size and recreate the tephra fall deposit from the Plinian, co-ignimbrite and combined eruptive phases. The results of the DSM and OAT method agreed adequately well with each other for erupted mass, plume height and grain-size distribution. Both approaches were able to successfully recreate the Plinian deposit but estimating conditions that created the co-ignimbrite and deep-sea core dataset were less successful. The reduced agreement is the result of the low quantity (6 to 28 deposit points) and quality (inconsistent deposit depths at localities adjacent to each other) of the datasets, and the different dynamics between co-ignimbrite and Plinian columns, with the former not well represented in the model. Different sampling methods between archaeological and volcanological disciplines and post-depositional processes which have acted on the tephra deposits since the Bronze Age can explain the discrepancy between these computed and observed deposits. The seasonality of the Minoan eruption was investigated by using seasonal wind profiles for winter, spring, summer and autumn. We find that the Bronze Age eruption of Santorini is likely to have during the spring and summer months with a main dispersal axis aligned East. Crete would have received very little ash fall, and the eruption would not have caused much disruption to the life of the inhabitants of the island.
The Kolumbo submarine volcano, located 7 km northeast of the island of Santorini, is part of Santorini’s volcanic complex in the south Aegean Sea, Greece. Kolumbo’s last eruption was in 1650 AD. ...However, a unique and active hydrothermal vent field has been revealed in the northern part of its crater floor during an oceanographic survey by remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) in 2006. In the present study, conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) data collected by ROV
Hercules
during three oceanographic surveys onboard E/V
Nautilus
in 2010 and 2011 have served to investigate the distribution of physicochemical properties in the water column, as well as their behavior directly over the hydrothermal field. Additional CTD measurements were carried out in volcanic cone 3 (VC3) along the same volcanic chain but located 3 km northeast of Kolumbo where no hydrothermal activity has been detected to date. CTD profiles exhibit pronounced anomalies directly above the active vents on Kolumbo’s crater floor. In contrast, VC3 data revealed no such anomalies, essentially resembling open-sea (background) conditions. Steep increases of temperature (e.g., from 16 to 19 °C) and conductivity near the maximum depth (504 m) inside Kolumbo’s cone show marked spatiotemporal correlation. Vertical distributions of CTD signatures suggest a strong connection to Kolumbo’s morphology, with four distinct zones identified (open sea, turbid flow, invariable state, hydrothermal vent field). Additionally, overlaying the near-seafloor temperature measurements on an X–Y coordinate grid generates a detailed 2D distribution of the hydrothermal vent field and clarifies the influence of fluid discharges in its formation.
Passive samplers were used to measure the atmospheric concentrations of SO2 naturally emitted at three volcanoes in Italy (Etna, Vulcano and Stromboli) and of H2S naturally emitted at three ...volcanic/geothermal areas in Greece (Milos, Santorini and Nisyros). The measured concentrations and dispersion patterns varied with the strength of the source (open conduits or fumaroles), the meteorological conditions and the area topography. At Etna, Vulcano and Stromboli, SO2 concentrations reach values that are dangerous to people affected by bronchial asthma or lung diseases (>1000μgm−3). H2S values measured at Nisyros also exceed the limit considered safe for the same group of people (>3000μgm−3). The data obtained using passive samplers represent time-averaged values over periods from a few days up to 1month, and hence concentrations probably reached much higher peak values that were potentially also dangerous to healthy people. The present study provides evidence of a peculiar volcanic risk associated with tourist exploitation of active volcanic areas. This risk is particularly high at Mt. Etna, where the elderly and people in less-than-perfect health can easily reach areas with dangerous SO2 concentrations via a cableway and off-road vehicles.
► Atmospheric concentrations of sulphur gases at active volcanic/geothermal areas ► Values dangerous to human health are reached in many areas accessible to tourists. ► Among the studied volcanic systems Mt. Etna shows the highest risk.
The geochemistry of basaltic to dacitic lavas and dykes in the volcanic centres of North Santorini (Greece) has been investigated using elemental and Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic data and three main magmatic ...series with sub-parallel trace element patterns for basalts can be distinguished. The basalts have Sr and Nd isotopic values consistent with varying levels of incompatible-element mantle depletion. A fourth magma group with only two basalt samples has a trace element pattern with even lower contents of incompatible elements, especially Th, and with lower
87Sr/
86Sr but higher
206Pb/
204Pb. Heterogeneous magma formation beneath North Santorini throughout its 500 ka history is attributed to variable transfer of sedimentary components — either terrigenous or pelagic, as bulk sediments or high-temperature partial melts rather than fluids or low-temperature partial melts — from a rupture zone in the subducted slab to the overlying mantle. The three main magmatic series followed independent paths of assimilation of upper crustal materials during fractional crystallization. Assimilation was more pronounced at the basaltic stage. The long-lived histories of the three main magmatic series imply repetitive melting of isolated mantle regions, ascent of magmas through independent feeder systems, and their residence in separate crustal magma chambers.
Analysis of a radial geodetic monitoring record indicated small-scale inflation of the NW part of the Thera (Santorini) caldera (up to 10
cm baseline length increase) between 1994 and 2000, ...corresponding to up to 2
*
10
−5 strain, and subsequent stabilization especially after 2006, as GPS data indicate. The southern part of the caldera on the contrary remained practically stable. This partial caldera inflation was assigned to slow magma intrusion which was not associated with changes in the seismicity. Using a stochastic approach based on numerical analysis and the theory of graphs and sets, the Mogi source of this magmatic activity was identified between the Nea Kammeni and the Therasia islets, along a major tectonovolcanic lineament, at a depth of around 1
km, or possibly 5.5
km, it remained stable during the whole small-scale inflation period and was associated with small-scale pressure changes. Slow-deformation events have been observed in other volcanoes as well, but they were associated with abrupt seismicity changes.
►Santorini (Thera) volcano inflation. ►Geodetic monitoring. ►Mogi magma source identification. ►Numerical stochastic modeling graph and set theory adjustment.
The pyroclastic deposits of the Minoan eruption (ca 3600 yr bp) in Santorini contain abundant xenoliths. Most of these deposits are calcareous blocks of laminated‐botryoidal, stromatolite‐like ...buildups that formed in the shallow waters of the flooded pre‐Minoan caldera; they consist of (i) light laminae, of fibrous aragonite arranged perpendicular to layering, and (ii) dark laminae, with calcified filaments of probable biological origin. These microstructures are absent in the light laminae, suggesting a predominant inorganic precipitation of aragonite on substrates probably colonized by microbes. Internal cavities contain loose skeletal grains (molluscs, ostracods, foraminifera and diatoms) that comprise taxa typical of shallow marine and/or lagoon environments. Most of these forms are typical of warm water environments, although no typical taxa from hydrothermal vents have been observed. Past gasohydrothermal venting is recorded by the occurrence of barite, pyrolusite and pyrite traces. The most striking features of the stable isotopic data set are: (i) an overall wide range in δ13CPDB (0·16 to 12·97‰) with a narrower variation for δ18OPDB (−0·23 to 4·33‰); and (ii) a relatively uniform isotopic composition for the fibrous aragonite (δ13C = 12·40 ± 0·43‰ and δ18O = 2·42 ± 0·77‰, n = 21). The δ13C and δ18O values from molluscs and ostracods display a covariant trend, which reflects a mixing between sea water and a fluid influenced by volcano‐hydrothermal activity. Accordingly, 87Sr/86Sr from the studied carbonates (0·708758 to 0·709011 in fibrous aragonite and 0·708920 to 0·708991 in molluscs) suggests that the aragonite buildups developed in sea water under the influence of a hydrothermal/volcanic source. Significant differences in trace elements have been detected between the fibrous aragonite and modern marine aragonite cements. The caldera water from which the fibrous aragonite crusts formed received an input from a volcano‐hydrothermal system, probably producing diffuse venting of volcanogenic CO2 gas and of a fluid enriched in Ca, Mn and Ba, and depleted in Mg and probably in Sr.
This article analyzes rockfall susceptibility in the steep caldera slopes upstream of Athinios port, Santorini Island, Greece. The study area is situated in the internal rim of a submarine caldera ...where the most important problem that is recorded is the frequent rockfalls that not only cause damages to roads and vehicles but also pose a threat to people that are transported or located on the port. As a result, a methodology which combines information relatively to surficial and engineering geology, geomorphological processes, and structural analysis was adopted. The methodology incorporates evenly a maximum runout map generated by means of reach probability of rock block analysis, using the empirical model of “reach angle”. Additionally volumes of rockfall events categorized and presented through a map to assist the compilation of rockfall susceptibility map which allows us to identify areas and human activities exposed to these incidents and set up several protection meters.
Hazard assessments for long-dormant volcanoes, where information is rarely available, typically have to be made rapidly and in the face of considerable uncertainty and often poor information. A ...conditional (assuming an eruption), scenario-based probabilistic approach to such an assessment is presented here for Santorini volcano (Greece). The rapid assessment was developed and implemented in response to the 2011-2012 unrest crisis in order to inform emergency management and planning. This paper synthesises the results presented to the Greek National Committee and scientific community involved. Two plausible eruptions at Santorini were investigated, using multiple inputs and dispersal models, based on observations of historic eruptions and expert judgement. For ash hazard, a ‘most likely’ eruption scenario was developed, characterised by slow lava extrusion over periods of one to two years with weak but persistent explosions and ash venting up to 3 km. A second ‘largest considered’ sub-Plinian explosive scenario assumed a 12 km high column of 4-h duration. For gas hazard, constant fluxes of 200 and 800 tons/day SO
2
were assumed for the duration of the eruption scenarios, noting that there is very little evidence to constrain SO
2
flux from Santorini eruptions. Statistical models of likely wind conditions with height and season were developed from decadal reanalysis time series showing that consistent low-altitude winds were rarely maintained for more than a few days. Stochastic models of ash (TEPHRA2, VOL-CALPUFF) and gas (AERMOD) dispersal provided outputs in the form of probability maps and exceedance probability curves for key loading and concentration thresholds at important locations on the island. The results from the rapid assessments presented in this paper confirm that ash and gas hazard is likely to be of concern if an eruption of Santorini occurs. Higher hazard may be expected to the south and east of the volcano, notably at important tourist and transport hubs. Low hazard to the north and northwest suggests that these may be suitable locations for emergency response centres and emergency critical infrastructure. This approach may provide a blueprint for rapid ash and gas assessment for other long-dormant volcanoes and we provide suggestions for refining the methods used.
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