U.S.-Italy Cooperative Research: Volcanological and Geochemical Studies at Vulcano, Pantelleria, and Sabatini, Italy

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This award will provide funds for Prof. Michael F. Sheridan of Arizona State University to travel to Italy to conduct field work and collaborative research at three different Quartenary volcanos in Italy with his Italian counterparts, Prof. L. La Volpe (Bari), L. Civetta (Naples), and G. Cavaretta (Rome). The general objective of the proposed research is to achieve a better understanding of the physics of volcanic activity through geochemical investigations at the proposed sites. The specific objectives are: 1) to reconstruct the volcanic history of Vulcano in Sicily, following a field investigation of the oldest exposed stratigraphic sequence; 2) to interpret explosive volcanic phenomena recorded in the products of eruptive cycles younger than 50,000 years on Pantelleria (Straight of Sicily), using the variation in volatile species and light trace elements measured by the ion microprobe; and 3) to investigate the geochemistry of boron and other light elements in the hydrothermal minerals of the Sabatini Volcanic District (Latium). The activity planned at Vulcano is important for its likely contributions to the basic science of volcanology vis a vis volcanic hazards. The work at Pantelleria is of potential scientific value since it promises, through the application of ion microprobe analysis, to yield important analytical data on the volatile and light element content of glass inclusions and phenocrysts, thus providing information on the volatile concentrations of the magmatic reservoirs of the volcano. The proposed research project will take advantage of the combined skills and expertise of the U.S. and Italian investigators, who have worked together effectively as a team in the past, in the conduct of preliminary field work at the volcanic sites and the completion of laboratory analysis in Naples and Arizona State University.