Structural setting of the Bay of Naples (Italy) seismic reflection data: implications for Campanian volcanism

Abstract

This paper focuses on the recent tectonic evolution of the Bay of Naples with the aim of exploring the connection between local tectonics and volcanism. We reprocessed the seismic reflection dataset acquired in the area in the late 1973. The new processing was highly successful in obtaining a decisive strong reduction of random noise, removal of coherent noise and reduction of spatial aliasing. Classical interpretative schemes and complex attributes of seismic traces were used to reconstruct fault kinematics and reflector patterns. The results show that the faults affecting the Bay of Naples exhibit prevailing NE structural strikes, with the exception of the Pozzuoli Caldera where NW patterns are also common. Many faults are subvertical and show seismic evidence of volcanic activity along them. A main alignment of conjugate NE–SW faults, named here as “Magnaghi–Sebeto line”, intersects several submarine volcanic banks and separates the bay into two sectors, characterized by important geological, geophysical and petrochemical differences. The structural configuration of the bay may reflect the occurrence of either oblique extension or a transfer zone of the NW–SE fault system, along which, in the Campanian–Lucanian Apennine chain, great vertical displacements occur.