The cruise TIR10, with the R/V Urania, during October 2010, provide, as the main purpose, new acquisitions of multichannel seismic profiles, to study the tectonic setting and the geodynamic evolution of three main structures whitin the Tyrrhenian Sea. The main areas of investigations are the Pontine Islands, the Messina Strait from the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea to the Southern Ionian Sea, and the Gulf og Naples. In the Tyrrhenian Sea an extensional to trans-extensional tectonic setting occurs, and a transition from the continental to the oceanic crust is observed from the Pontine Islands to the southwest sector.
These research activities contibute to the knowledge of the geodynamics and the evolution of the Tyrrhenian backarc basin, in cooperation with the CROP (CROsta Profonda) project, funded by the CNR to study the italian crust and its seas. Moreover, the areas of investigations can contribute to the definition and prevention of geological, seismic and volcanic hazard, because both the Pontine escarpment and Messina Strait are seismogenetic structures with an high-level tzunami generation, and the Campi Flegrei represent an high-risk area due to the number of inhabitans.
Different topics has to be examined during this research activity: 1) the characters of the transition from a continental to an oceanic crust, 2) the transfer zone between the Calabrian oceanic and the Sicilian continental subductions, 3) the complex volcanic district characterized by frequent explosive eruptions of Pontine Islands and Gulf of Naples.
Also, TIR10 includes measurements and data acquisitions in the fields of Oceanography and Seismic Oceanography, taking advantage of the high resolution surveying.