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

Abstract

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 V P ≃ 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 ( V P < 3 kilometers per second), which might represent a melting zone.