SUBMARINE VOLCANOES OF THE TYRRHENIAN SEA–TESTAMENTS TO THE OPENING OF A BACKARC BASIN

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Abstract
Three large volcanic seamounts in the central part of the Tyrrhenian Sea—Marsili, Vavilov, and Magnaghi—investigated during the 16th cruise of the R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh with the aid of Mir manned deep-sea submersibles. The formation of these edifices was associated with marked extension in an environment of backarc spreading. The lower parts of the mountains are composed of subalkaline basalt and the upper portions of volcanics of the calcalkaline series. Large open fractures (gja) are clearly expressed on Mt. Marsili, the youngest volcano and the closest to the Eolian arc. The overall evolution of magmatism in the backarc basin of the Tyrrhenian Sea was associated with the migration of zones of extension from northwest to southeast during interaction with the retreating Calabria subduction zone.