Skip to main content
Earth, Planets and Space
Download PDF

Lava identification by paleomagnetism: a case study and some problems surrounding the 1631 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, Italy

Earth, Planets and Space volume 58, pages 1061–1069 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Detailed rock magnetic, paleomagnetic and absolute paleointensity studies of lava flows from the disputed 1631 Mount Vesuvius eruption are reported. The magnetic carrier consists of pseudo-single domain state Ti-poor titanomagnetites. Characteristic magnetization directions determined from detailed stepwise alternating field and thermal demagnetizations provide four new well-defined flow unit mean directions, with α95 ranging from 0.7° to 2.6°. Paleodirections for 11 lava flows from 24-four flows studied previously appear to be related to the 1631 eruption, as indicated by their correlation to the early 17th century segment of the Italian paleosecular variation reference curve. This provides new evidence supporting the conclusion that the 1631 episode was an explosive-effusive eruption. The paleointensity results obtained from this study are the first to be published for Mount Vesuvius, with virtual dipole moments of 9.24±1.8 × 1022 and 13.5±0.4 × 1022 Am2 higher than the present-day geomagnetic field strength.

References

  • Arnó, V., C. Principe, M. Rosi, R. Santacroce, A. Sbrana, and M. F. Sheridan, Eruptive history, in “Somma-Vesuvius” Quaderni de “La Ricerca Scientifica” C. N. R., edited by R. Santacroce, 114, 243 pp., 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bucur, I., The direction of the terrestrial magnetic field in France, during the last 21 centuries. Recent progress, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 87, 95–109, 1994.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calvo, M., M. Prévot, M. Perrin, and J. Riisager, Investigating the reasons for the failure of paleointensity experiments: A study on historical lava flows from Mt. Etna (Italy), Geophys. J. Int., 149, 44–63, 2002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carracedo, J., C. Principe, M. Rosi, and V. Soler, Time correlation by palaeomagnetism of the 1631 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Volcanological and volcanic hazard implications, J. Volcanol. Geothermal Res., 58, 203–209, 1993.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chauvin, A., Y. Garcia, P. Lanos, and F. Laubenheimer, Paleointensity of the geomagnetic field recovered on archeomagnetic sites from France, Phys. Earth Planet. Int., 120, 111–136, 2000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coe, R., S. Gromme, and E. A. Mankinen, Geomagnetic paleointensity from radiocarbon-dated lava flows on Hawaii and the question of the Pacific non-dipole Low, J. Geophys. Res., 83, 1740–1756, 1978.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conte, G., J. Urrutia-Fucugauchi, A. Goguitchaichvili, and A. Incoronato, Paleomagnetic dating of lava flows of uncertain age, Somma-Vesuvius volcanic complex (Southern Italy), Int. Geol. Rev., 48(4), 349–359, 2006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Day, R., M. Fuller, and V. A. Schmidt, Hysteresis properties of titanomagnetites: Grain size and compositional dependence, Phys. Earth Planet. Int., 13, 260–267, 1977.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delibrias, G., G. Di Paola, M. Rosi, and R. Santacroce, La storia eruttiva del complesso vulcanico Somma-Vesuvio ricostruita nelle successioni piroclastiche del M. Te Somma, Rend. Soc. It. Mineral. Petrol., 35, 411–438, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  • Di Girolamo, P., Geotectonic setting of Miocene-Quaternary volcanism in and around the Eastern Tyrrhenian sea border (Italy) as deduced from major element geochemistry, Bull. Volcanol., 41, 229–250, 1978.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunlop, D. J., Theory and application of the Day plot (Mrs/Ms versus Hcr/Hc) 1: Theoretical curves and tests using titanomagnetite data, J. Geophys. Res., 107(B3), 10.1029/2001JB000486, 2002a.

  • Dunlop, D. J., Theory and application of the Day plot (Mrs/Ms versus Hcr/Hc) 2: Application to data for rocks, sediments, and soil, J. Geophys. Res., 107(B3), 10.1029/2001JB000487, 2002b.

  • Evans, M. E. and G. S. Hoye, Archaeomagnetic results from southern Italy and their bearing on geomagnetic secular variation, Phys. Earth Planet. Int., 151, 155–162, 2005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, R. A., Dispersion on the sphere, Proc. R. Soc. London Ser. A., 217, 295–305, 1953.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallet, Y., A. Genevey, and M. Le Goff, Three millennia of directional variation of the earths magnetic field in western Europe as revealed by archeological artifacts, Phys. Earth Planet. Int., 131, 81–89, 2002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Genevey, A. and Y. Gallet, Intensity of the geomagnetic field in western Europe over the past 2000 years: New data from ancient French poteries, J. Geophys. Res., 107(B11), 2285, 10.1029/2001JB000701, 2002.

  • Gialanella, R., A. Incoronato, F. Russo, and G. Nigro, Magnetic stratigraphy of Vesuvius products. I-1631 lavas, J. Volcanol. Geothermal Res., 58, 211–215, 1993.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoye, G. S., Archaeomagnetic secular variation record of Mount Vesuvius. Nature, 291, 216–218, 1981.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Incoronato, A., Magnetic stratigraphy procedures in volcanic areas: the experience at Vesuvius. Palaeomagnetic and Tectonics of the Mediterranean Region. Geological Soc. Special Pub., 105, 367–371, 1996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Incoronato, A. and C. Del Negro, Magnetic Stratigraphy Procedures at Etna, in The Mt. Etna Volcano, edited by A. Bonaccorso, S. Calvari, M. Coltelli, C. Del Negro, and S. Falsaperla, AGU Geophys Monogr. Ser., 143, 263–271, 2004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Incoronato, A., A. Angelino, R. Romano, A. Ferrante, R. Sauna, G. Vanacore, and C. Vecchione, Retrieving geomagnetic secular variations from lava flows: evidence from Mount Arso, Etna and Vesuvius (southern Italy), Geophys. J. Int., 149, 724–730, 2002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, A., A. Jonkers, and M. Walker, Four centuries of geomagnetic secular variation from historical records, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, Ser. A., 358, 957–990, 2000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirschvink, J. L., The least-squares line and plane and the analysis of palaeomagnetic data, Geophys. J. R. Astr. Soc., 62, 699–718, 1980.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lanza, R., A. Meloni, and E. Tema, Historical measurements of the Earth’s magnetic field compared with remanence directions from lava flows in Italy over the last four centuries, Phys. Earth Planet. Int., 148, 97–107, 2005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Hon, H., Histoire complete de la grande eruption du Vesuve de 1631 (With a topographic map of Vesuvius lavas from 1631 till 1861), Bull. R. Acad. Sci. Lett. Beaux Arts, Belg., 20, 483–538, 1865.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Goff, M., Y. Gallet, A. Genevey, and N. Warmé, On archeomagnetic secular variation curves and archeomagnetic dating, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 134, 203–211, 2002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagata, T., R. A. Fisher, and K. Momose, Secular variation of the geomagnetic total force during the last 5000 years, J. Geophys. Res., 68, 5277–5281, 1963.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prévot, M., R. S. Mankinen, S. Gromme, and A. Leccaille, High paleointensity of the geomagnetic field from thermomagnetic studies on rift valley pillow basalts from the middle Atlantic ridge, J. Geophys. Res., 88, 2316–2326, 1983.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Principe, C., M. Rosi, R. Santacroce, and A. Sbrana, Explanatory Notes to the Geological Map of Vesuvius. Quaderni de “La Ricerca Scientifica”, CNR, Roma, 114, 8, 11–51, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rolandi, G. and F. Russo, Contributo alla conoscenza dell’attività storica del Vesuvio. La stratigrafia di Villa Inglese (Torre del Greco), Rend. Acad. Sci. Fis. Mat. Napoli, 54, 123–127, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rolandi, G. and F. Russo, Contributo alla conoscenza dell’attività storica del Vesuvio: dati stratigrafici e vulcanologici nel settore meridionale tra Torre del Greco, località Villa Inglese, e Torre Annunziata, Boll. Soc. Geol. Ital., 108, 521–536, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rolandi, G. and F. Russo, L’eruzione del Vesuvio del 1631, Boll. Soc. Geol. Ital., 112, 315–332, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rolandi, G., A. Barrella, A. Borrelli, and G. D’Alessio, The 1631 Vesuvian eruption, Int. Conf. On Active Volcanoes and Risk Mitigation. Abstr., 91, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosi, M. and R. Santacroce, The famous AD 1631 eruption of Vesuvius: a revised interpretation in light of historical and volcanological data, Workshop on Volcanic Blast, Mount St. Helens, abstr., 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosi, M., C. Principe, and R. Vecchi, The 1631 eruption of Vesuvius reconstructed from the review of chronicles and study of deposits, J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., 58, 151–182, 1993.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santacroce, R., Somma-Vesuvius. Quaderni de “La Ricerca Scientifica”, CNR, Roma 114, 8, 243 pp., 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanguy, J. C. and M. Le Goff, Distortion of the geomagnetic field in volcanic terrains: an experimental study of the Mount Etna stratovolcano, Phys. Earth Planet. Int., 141, 59–70, 2004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanguy, J. C., M. Le Goff, V. Chillemi, A. Paiotti, C. Principe, S. La Delfa, and G. Patanè, Variation séculaire de la direction du champ géomagnétique enregistrée par les laves de l’Etna et du Vésuve pendant les deux derniers millénaires, C. R. Acad. Sc. Paris Sci. Terre Planet., 329, 557–564, 1999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanguy, J. C., M. Le Goff, V. Chillemi, A. Paiotti, C. Principe, S. La Delfa, and G. Patanè, Archeomagnetic dating of Mediterranean volcanics of the last 2100 years: validity and limits, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 211, 111–124, 2003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tauxe, L., T. A. T. Mullender, and T. Pick, Pot-bellies, wasp-waists and su-perparamagnetism in magnetic hysteresis, J. Geophys. Res., 95, 12337–12350, 1996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thellier, E. and O. Thellier, Sur l’intensite de champ magnetique terrestre dans le passe historique et geologique, Ann. Geophys., 15, 285–376, 1959.

    Google Scholar 

  • Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J., L. Alva-Valdivia, A. Goguitchaichvili, M. L. Rivas, and J. Morales, Palaeomagnetic, rock-magnetic and microscopy studies of historic lava flows from Paricutin volcano, Mexico: Implications for the deflection of palaeomagnetic measurements, Geophys. J. Int., 156, 431–442, 2004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Gennaro Conte-Fasano

    Present address: Instituto de Investigaciones Antropologicas, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Mexico, D.F., Mexico

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Paleomagnetismo y Geofisica Nuclear, Instituto de Geofísica, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Mexico, D.F., Mexico

    Gennaro Conte-Fasano, Jaime Urrutia-Fucugauchi & Avto Goguitchaichvili

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Universitàdegli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Largo S. Marcellino no. 10, 80138, Naples, Italy

    Alberto Incoronato & Pasquale Tiano

Authors
  1. Gennaro Conte-Fasano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jaime Urrutia-Fucugauchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Avto Goguitchaichvili
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Alberto Incoronato
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Pasquale Tiano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gennaro Conte-Fasano.

Rights and permissions

Open Access  This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Conte-Fasano, G., Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J., Goguitchaichvili, A. et al. Lava identification by paleomagnetism: a case study and some problems surrounding the 1631 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, Italy. Earth Planet Sp 58, 1061–1069 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352611

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352611

Key words