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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Volcanology
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2024.1448187

Complex Lava Tube Networks Developed Within the 1792-93 Lava Flow Field on Mount Etna (Italy): Insights for hazard assessment

Provisionally accepted
Sonia Calvari Sonia Calvari 1*Gaetano Giudice Gaetano Giudice 1R Maugeri R Maugeri 1Danilo Messina Danilo Messina 1Daniele Morgavi Daniele Morgavi 2Lucia Miraglia Lucia Miraglia 1Alessandro La Spina Alessandro La Spina 1Letizia Spampinato Letizia Spampinato 1
  • 1 National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Section of Catania, Catania, Italy
  • 2 University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Campania, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Lava tubes are powerful heat insulators, allowing lava to practically keep the initial temperature and travel longer distances than when freely flowing on the ground surface. It is thus extremely important to recognize how, when and where these structures form within a lava flow field for hazard assessment purposes, in order to plan possible interventions should a lava flow approach inhabited areas. Often being formed within thick and complex lava flow fields, lava tubes are difficult to detect, study and explore. In this study, we analyse the 1792-93 Etna lava flow field emplaced on a steep slope (> 4°) which comprises several lava tubes located at different distances from the eruptive fissure, at different levels within the lava flow field, and showing various inner morphologies, with peculiar inner features related to their maturity and eruptive history. Our aim is to verify whether it is possible to connect the underground features with features observed on the lava flow surface in order to reconstruct the extension of the tube network and unravel the genetic processes. Our results show that, in the studied lava flow field, vertical and horizontal tube capture is very widespread, and might be the primary process for lava tube persistence and long life. Our results might be applicable to other lava tubes on Earth and other rocky planets.

    Keywords: lava tubes, lava flows, Etna volcano, Lava flow fields, Lava tube networks, Horizontal and vertical tube capture, pahoehoe and aa lavas

    Received: 12 Jun 2024; Accepted: 28 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Calvari, Giudice, Maugeri, Messina, Morgavi, Miraglia, La Spina and Spampinato. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sonia Calvari, National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Section of Catania, Catania, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.