Chapter 5 Stratigraphic methodology for the geological mapping of volcanic areas: insights from the Aeolian archipelago (southern Italy)

A stratigraphic approach to geological fieldwork and mapping of the Aeolian archipelago is performed by primarily using unconformity-bounded units (UBUs) in addition to lithosomes and classical lithostratigraphic units, which are the basic mappable units. Lithosomes are largely used to identify the localization of eruptive vents or non-volcanic source areas through time. The UBUs display an encompassing framework of correlation on a scale from local (single islands) to regional (Aeolian archipelago), by placing particular emphasis on the stratigraphic role played by Late Quaternary marine terrace deposits and widespread tephra layers (e.g. Brown Tuffs). By establishing a direct relationship between UBUs and time-stratigraphic units, the volcanic successions are readable in terms of different and successive Eruptive Epochs (separated by prolonged non-volcanic periods), which are characterized by distinctive eruptive vents and eruption types. As such, the UBUs allow the reconstruction of the main steps of geological evolution of a volcano as the result of the interplay between volcanic activity of local and external provenance, sea-level fluctuations and volcano-tectonic or regional fault lineaments.