Abstract
This paper analyses the ground deformations occurring on the eastern part of the Pernicana Fault from 1997 to 2005. This segment of the fault was monitored with three local networks based on GPS and EDM techniques. More than seventy GPS and EDM surveys were carried out during the considered period, in order to achieve a higher temporal detail of ground deformation affecting the structure. We report the comparisons among GPS and EDM surveys in terms of absolute horizontal displacements of each GPS benchmark and in terms of strain parameters for each GPS and EDM network. Ground deformation measurements detected a continuous left-lateral movement of the Pernicana Fault. We conclude that, on the easternmost part of the Pernicana Fault, where it branches out into two segments, the deformation is transferred entirely SE-wards by a splay fault.
Highlights
The fault system is formed of discrete segments, arranged in a right stepping en échelon configuration, of a near continuous left-lateral shear zone that dissects the north-eastern flank of Mt
The eastern flank of the volcano is affected by a continuous ESE seaward sliding due to the interrelationship between gravity instability and magma intrusion (Borgia et al, 1992; Lo Giudice and Rasà, 1992; McGuire et al, 1996; Montalto et al, 1996; Rust and Neri, 1996; Tibaldi and Groppelli, 2002; Bonforte and Puglisi, 2003)
The models proposed to explain the origin of this sliding are quite different regarding the origin of the movements and the southern and the bottom boundaries of the moving block, they all agree in identifying the Pernicana Fault as the northern boundary of the unstable sector
Summary
Ing the 2002-03 Mt. Etna eruption, a huge ground fracturing phenomena involved the whole north-eastern flank allowing to identify the development of the Pernicana Fault splay down to the Ionian coast (Neri et al, 2004) The western and central segments of the fault are seismogenic, with frequent shallow earthquakes, which can reach magnitudes up to 4.2, and cause severe damage to man-made features and surface faulting (Azzaro et al, 1998). The eastern segment of the fault is characterized by aseismic fault movements with striking evidence of activity revealed by continuous left-lateral displacements having a creep-rate of about 2.8 cm/yr based on historic and geodetic estimations (Azzaro et al, 2001). This paper analysed the geodetic data acquired by three local geodetic networks (GPS and EDM) installed in 1997 along the eastern segment of the Pernicana Fault (Azzaro et al, 2001)
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