Crustal magma pathways for Etnean and Hyblean volcanism curved by deepening of Malta Escarpment.

A fraction of the volcanic activity on Earth occurs intraplate, challenging our models of melting and magma transfer t o the Earth’s surface. A prominent example is Mt. Etna in Italy, offset from the proposed asthenospheric tear below the Malta Escarpment. Likewise, the Hyblean volcanism to the south and the overall northward migration of the eastern Sicilian volcanism are still unexplained. Here we bactrack the Sicilian volcanism along simulated magma pathways, accounting for regional tectonic stresses and crustal decompression due to the deepening of the Malta Escarpment. Our models demonstrate that both the Hyblean and E tnean volcanism may have been sourced through inclined pathways from a melt pooling region below the Malta Escarpment and that the migration of volcanism within the Hyblean and Etnean phases may stem from the crustal stress history of Eastern Sicily. Accou nting for crustal stresses may elucidate intraplate volcanism and its wandering.