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Reconnaissance of the Tyrrhenian Sea by the new method of long range side-scan sonar has provided plan view details of volcanic island slopes and seamounts. Some of the Aeolian Island slopes are notable for submarine cones fashioned into a radial pattern, probably by sliding of ashes and hyaloclastite debris. Other prominent features are NW–SE and NE–SW tectonic trends, a cliff at about 100–200 m below sea level around each island, and a channel system which is tributary to a major canyon. One large central-Tyrrhenian volcanic seamount (Vavilov) has a morphology which suggests construction from a succession of pillow lava flows, while another (Marsili) exhibits strong linear trends, probably mainly tectonic in character.
