The geology of the 2nd century A.D. Amphitheater Area of Catania, Italy: Historical Eruptions Affecting the Urban District

Abstract

The amphitheater of Catania is one of the main architectural structures built during Roman domination of the town. It was constructed in two successive phases between the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D. and fell into disuse from the second half of the 4th century. Detailed geological and petrographic investigations allow better geomorphological reconstruction of the area where the monument was built. In particular, the western and eastern portions of the amphitheater are built on prehistoric lava flows, named Barriera del Bosco and Larmisi, respectively. We infer that the choice of site to build the monument was highly influenced by the morphological setting of the area. In fact, the location at the contact between two lava flow fields facilitated excavation and removal of rocks due to the incoherence of the scoriaceous lateral border of the lava flows. Integrating both archaeological and geological data has revealed that a large number of Neolithic, Greek, and Roman sites are located in the lava fields of Barriera del Bosco and Larmisi within the present urban district of Catania, indicating that during its long history the city was directly impacted by only one lava flow, namely in A.D. 1669.

Quantifying the Statistical Relationships Between Flank Eruptions and Major Earthquakes at Mt. Etna Volcano (Italy)

“…Other catalogs have since been published without substantial changes in the flank eruption records, but enhancing the scientific reconstruction of the past and recent activity from different perspectives (Andronico & Lodato, 2005;Behncke et al, 2005;Neri et al, 2011;Tanguy et al, 2007). More recently, Branca and Abate (2019) further detailed the historical catalog before the 18th century by a multidisciplinary approach comprising stratigraphy, historiographical studies, and geochronological dating of the lavas, that allowed defining a comprehensive assessment of the flank eruptions at Etna in the last 2500 years (Branca & Vigliotti, 2015;Branca et al, 2011Branca et al, , 2013Branca et al, , 2015bBranca et al, , 2016Tanguy et al, 2012).…”

Great earthquakes and the fall of the Sanxingdui and Jinsha civilizations in central China

“…Ruins of ancient civilizations are often used as surface markers for Holocene tectonic and paleoseismic events (e.g., Ferrater, Silva, Orturio, Rodriguez‐Pascua, & Masana, ; Guidoboni, Comastri, Mariotti, Ciuccarelli, & Bianchi, ; Hinzen, Kehmeier, & Schreiber, ; Lin, Rao, Hu, & Gong, ; Marco et al., ; Silva et al., ) and time capsules for volcanic eruptions (e.g., Branca, Branciforti, Chiavetta, & Corsaro, ; Coltelli, Del Carlo, & Vezzeoli, ). Archaeoseismological studies have shown that repeated large earthquakes on active faults have caused extensive damage to ancient infrastructure and economies, as well as numerous deaths, in a variety of environments worldwide (e.g., Ferrater et al., ; Lin, Ren, Jia, & Miyairi, ; Lin et al., ; Rodriguez‐Pascua et al., ).…”