Late Holocene vertical deformation along the coast of Pantelleria Island (Sicily Channel, Italy)

According to historical reports, the north-eastern coastal sector of the volcanic Pantelleria Island (Sicily Channel, Italy) was uplifted up to 1.0 m a.s.l. in the year preceding the October 1891 offshore eruptive event. To better understand the nature and timing of coastal uplift, a detailed survey of morphological and biological indicators of raised palaeo-shorelines has been carried out along the island coastline. This survey identified raised palaeo-shoreline levels at three elevation ranges: 2.5–4.2 m a.s.l. (highest), 1.5–2.7 m a.s.l. (intermediate) and 0.4–1.0 m a.s.l. (lowest). Radiocarbon dating on samples of corals and vermetids placed tight temporal constraints on the uplifting of the raised shorelines. In general, they indicate that the north-eastern sector of the island, centred on the area of Cala del Gadir, has undergone major uplifting, tilting the island towards the southwest from ∼900 years ago. Applying accurate corrections for sea-level variations, the total amount of volcano-tectonic uplift can be estimated. Uplift rates up to 5 mm/a suggest that the vertical deformation was caused by inflation processes related to magmatic intrusion along feeding fissures.