Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 2015
This work arises from the field observations made during the civil protection emergency period co... more This work arises from the field observations made during the civil protection emergency period connected to the 2007 Stromboli eruption. We observed changes in the shallow feeding system of the volcano to which we give a volcanological interpretation and the relative implications. Here we describe the processes that occurred in the upper feeding system from the end of the 2007 effusive eruption on 3 April to the renewal of the strombolian explosive activity at the summit craters (30 June), interpreted using multidisciplinary data. We used thermal camera data collected both from helicopter and from a fixed station at 400 m to retrieve the evolving summit crater activity. These data, compared with seismic signals and published geochemical records, allowed us to detail the shifting of the degassing activity within the crater terrace from NE to SW, occurred between 15 and 25 April 2007 prior to the resumption of the strombolian activity. In particular, from mid‐April, a gradual SW displ...
ABSTRACT 4), Jochem Kueck (4), Flavia Molisso (2), Joerge Erzinger (5), Christopher R.J. Kilburn ... more ABSTRACT 4), Jochem Kueck (4), Flavia Molisso (2), Joerge Erzinger (5), Christopher R.J. Kilburn (6), Agust Gudmundsson (7), Jean Pierre Burg (8), Alba Zappone (8), and David P. Hill (9) (1) INGV, Osservatorio Vesuviano, Napoli, Italy, (2) CNR-IAMC, Napoli, Italy, (3) CSIC, Barcelona, Spain, (4) ICDP, Potsdam, Germany, (5) GFZ, Potsdam, Germany, (6) UCL, London, UK, (7) Royal Holloway, London, UK, (8) ETH, Zurich, Switzerland, (9) USGS, Menlo Park, USA The Campi Flegrei Deep Drilling Project (CFDDP) entered the operative phase during the second half of 2012, with the pilot hole drilling. The Project was initiated to address two kinds of problems: 1) purely volcanological, to understand in detail the dynamics of the most explosive and yet mostly unknown volcanism on the Earth with the potential to generate global catastrophes, and 2) to mitigate the highest volcanic risk in the World, namely the one associated with the metropolitan area of Naples where more than 3,000,000 people are exposed to extreme risk. The CFDDP Project offers the only direct means to understand the physics driving the on-going ground uplift affecting the area since at least six centuries, through in situ and laboratory measurements of rock rheology and permeability. In particular, direct investigation at depth by drilling is essential for understanding the extent that shallow magma intrusion is involved in the uplift of 15 to 20 m accumulated over the last centuries. Such a high cumulative uplift corresponds to 1-10 km3 of new magma intruded into the system, depending on details of the model used. Such an erupted volume should be conservatively assumed as the worst scenario for a future eruption. This corresponds to a massive eruption, largest than any other one after the caldera-forming Yellow Tuff eruption of 15,000 y BP and not much smaller than that, which would anyway require evacuation of some millions people. An alternative possibility is that the cumulative uplift is mostly due to shallow geothermal perturbations as described in several recent publications. Both possibilities, each with widely differing hazard implications, rely strongly on as yet poorly known conditions at depth beneath the caldera. It is thus crucial to discriminate between these two opposing possibilities in order to clarify the worst scenario for a future eruption and to provide an invaluable tool for civil defence at this densely populated area. This presentation describes preliminary results obtained from CFDDP pilot hole, reaching a final depth of 502 m, which show considerable promise in answering the main open questions. From a volcanological point of view, they enlighten in an unprecedented way the dynamics of the Bagnoli-Fuorigrotta plain, the easternmost part of the caldera and the most densely populated because it includes the city of Naples. Furthermore, they allowed for the first in-situ measurements, at 500 m of depth, of loading stress and fluid-dynamical parameters like permeability, thus already representing a large step forward towards a complete fluid-dynamical interpretation of the ground uplift episodes called 'bradyseism'.
6 Facing Volcanic and Related Hazards in the Neapolitan Area Giovanni Orsi, Sandro de Vita,Mauro ... more 6 Facing Volcanic and Related Hazards in the Neapolitan Area Giovanni Orsi, Sandro de Vita,Mauro A. Di Vito, Roberto Isaia, Rosella Nave, and Grant ... The last period of such activity occurred between 1631 and 1944 (Andronico et al., 1995; Cioni et al., 1999; Arrighi et al., 2001 ...
ABSTRACT The joint application of different seismological techniques for seismic noise analysis, ... more ABSTRACT The joint application of different seismological techniques for seismic noise analysis, and the results of a volcanological and morphostructural survey, have allowed us to obtain a detailed and well constrained image of the shallow crustal structure of the Solfatara volcano (Campi Flegrei caldera, Italy). Horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios, inversion of surface wave dispersion curves and polarization analysis provided resonance frequencies and peak amplitudes, shear wave velocity profiles and polarization pattern of coherent ambient noise. These results, combined in a unique framework, indicate that the volcanic edifice is characterized by lateral and vertical discontinuities and heterogeneities in terms of shear wave velocity, lithological contrasts and structural setting. The interpretation of the seismological results, with the volcanological and morphostructural constraints, supports the hypothesis that the volcano has been characterized by a complex and intense activity, with the alternation of constructive and destructive phases, during which magmatic and phreatomagmatic explosions built a complex tuff-cone, later reworked by atmospheric agents and altered by hydrothermal activity. The differences in the velocity structure between the central and eastern parts of the crater have been interpreted as resulting from a possible eastward migration of the eruptive vent along the deformational features affecting the area, and to the presence of viscous lava and lithified tuff bodies within the feeding conduits, which are buried under a covering of reworked materials of variable thickness. The observed fault and fracture systems, partially inherited from regional structural setting and exhumed during volcanism and ground deformation episodes also seems to strongly control wave propagation, affecting the noise polarization properties.
ABSTRACT The joint application of different seismological techniques for seismic noise analysis, ... more ABSTRACT The joint application of different seismological techniques for seismic noise analysis, and the results of a volcanological and morphostructural survey, have allowed us to obtain a detailed and well constrained image of the shallow crustal structure of the Solfatara volcano (Campi Flegrei caldera, Italy). Horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios, inversion of surface wave dispersion curves and polarization analysis provided resonance frequencies and peak amplitudes, shear wave velocity profiles and polarization pattern of coherent ambient noise. These results, combined in a unique framework, indicate that the volcanic edifice is characterized by lateral and vertical discontinuities and heterogeneities in terms of shear wave velocity, lithological contrasts and structural setting. The interpretation of the seismological results, with the volcanological and morphostructural constraints, supports the hypothesis that the volcano has been characterized by a complex and intense activity, with the alternation of constructive and destructive phases, during which magmatic and phreatomagmatic explosions built a complex tuff-cone, later reworked by atmospheric agents and altered by hydrothermal activity. The differences in the velocity structure between the central and eastern parts of the crater have been interpreted as resulting from a possible eastward migration of the eruptive vent along the deformational features affecting the area, and to the presence of viscous lava and lithified tuff bodies within the feeding conduits, which are buried under a covering of reworked materials of variable thickness. The observed fault and fracture systems, partially inherited from regional structural setting and exhumed during volcanism and ground deformation episodes also seems to strongly control wave propagation, affecting the noise polarization properties.
6 Facing Volcanic and Related Hazards in the Neapolitan Area Giovanni Orsi, Sandro de Vita,Mauro ... more 6 Facing Volcanic and Related Hazards in the Neapolitan Area Giovanni Orsi, Sandro de Vita,Mauro A. Di Vito, Roberto Isaia, Rosella Nave, and Grant ... The last period of such activity occurred between 1631 and 1944 (Andronico et al., 1995; Cioni et al., 1999; Arrighi et al., 2001 ...
The Campi Flegrei volcano (or Phlegraean Fields), Campania, Italy, generated the largest eruption... more The Campi Flegrei volcano (or Phlegraean Fields), Campania, Italy, generated the largest eruption in Europe in at least 200 ka. Here we summarise the volcanic and human history of Campi Flegrei and discuss the interactions between humans and the environment within the "burning fields" from around 10,000 years until the 1538 CE Monte Nuovo eruption and more recent times. The region's incredibly rich written history documents how the landscape changed both naturally and anthropogenically, with the volcanic system fuelling these considerable natural changes. Humans have exploited the beautiful landscape, accessible resources (e.g. volcanic ash for pulvis puteolana mortar) and natural thermal springs associated with the volcano for millennia, but they have also endured the downsides of living in a volcanically active region-earthquakes, significant ground deformation and landscape altering eruptions. The prehistoric record is detailed, and various archaeological sites indicate that the region was certainly occupied in the last 10,000 years. This history has been reconstructed by identifying archaeological finds in sequences that often contain ash (tephra) layers from some of the numerous volcanic eruptions from Campi Flegrei and the other volcanoes in the region that were active at the time (Vesuvius and Ischia). These tephra layers provide both a relative and absolute chronology and allow the archaeology to be placed on a relatively precise timescale. The records testify that people have inhabited the area even when Campi Flegrei was particularly active. The archaeological sequences and outcrops of pyroclastic material preserve details about the eruption dynamics, buildings from Roman times, impressive craters that now host volcanic lakes and nature reserves, all of which make this region particularly mystic and fascinating, especially when we observe how society continues to live within the active caldera system. The volcanic activity and long record of occupation and use of volcanic resources in the region make it unique and here we outline key aspects of its geoheritage.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 2015
This work arises from the field observations made during the civil protection emergency period co... more This work arises from the field observations made during the civil protection emergency period connected to the 2007 Stromboli eruption. We observed changes in the shallow feeding system of the volcano to which we give a volcanological interpretation and the relative implications. Here we describe the processes that occurred in the upper feeding system from the end of the 2007 effusive eruption on 3 April to the renewal of the strombolian explosive activity at the summit craters (30 June), interpreted using multidisciplinary data. We used thermal camera data collected both from helicopter and from a fixed station at 400 m to retrieve the evolving summit crater activity. These data, compared with seismic signals and published geochemical records, allowed us to detail the shifting of the degassing activity within the crater terrace from NE to SW, occurred between 15 and 25 April 2007 prior to the resumption of the strombolian activity. In particular, from mid‐April, a gradual SW displ...
ABSTRACT 4), Jochem Kueck (4), Flavia Molisso (2), Joerge Erzinger (5), Christopher R.J. Kilburn ... more ABSTRACT 4), Jochem Kueck (4), Flavia Molisso (2), Joerge Erzinger (5), Christopher R.J. Kilburn (6), Agust Gudmundsson (7), Jean Pierre Burg (8), Alba Zappone (8), and David P. Hill (9) (1) INGV, Osservatorio Vesuviano, Napoli, Italy, (2) CNR-IAMC, Napoli, Italy, (3) CSIC, Barcelona, Spain, (4) ICDP, Potsdam, Germany, (5) GFZ, Potsdam, Germany, (6) UCL, London, UK, (7) Royal Holloway, London, UK, (8) ETH, Zurich, Switzerland, (9) USGS, Menlo Park, USA The Campi Flegrei Deep Drilling Project (CFDDP) entered the operative phase during the second half of 2012, with the pilot hole drilling. The Project was initiated to address two kinds of problems: 1) purely volcanological, to understand in detail the dynamics of the most explosive and yet mostly unknown volcanism on the Earth with the potential to generate global catastrophes, and 2) to mitigate the highest volcanic risk in the World, namely the one associated with the metropolitan area of Naples where more than 3,000,000 people are exposed to extreme risk. The CFDDP Project offers the only direct means to understand the physics driving the on-going ground uplift affecting the area since at least six centuries, through in situ and laboratory measurements of rock rheology and permeability. In particular, direct investigation at depth by drilling is essential for understanding the extent that shallow magma intrusion is involved in the uplift of 15 to 20 m accumulated over the last centuries. Such a high cumulative uplift corresponds to 1-10 km3 of new magma intruded into the system, depending on details of the model used. Such an erupted volume should be conservatively assumed as the worst scenario for a future eruption. This corresponds to a massive eruption, largest than any other one after the caldera-forming Yellow Tuff eruption of 15,000 y BP and not much smaller than that, which would anyway require evacuation of some millions people. An alternative possibility is that the cumulative uplift is mostly due to shallow geothermal perturbations as described in several recent publications. Both possibilities, each with widely differing hazard implications, rely strongly on as yet poorly known conditions at depth beneath the caldera. It is thus crucial to discriminate between these two opposing possibilities in order to clarify the worst scenario for a future eruption and to provide an invaluable tool for civil defence at this densely populated area. This presentation describes preliminary results obtained from CFDDP pilot hole, reaching a final depth of 502 m, which show considerable promise in answering the main open questions. From a volcanological point of view, they enlighten in an unprecedented way the dynamics of the Bagnoli-Fuorigrotta plain, the easternmost part of the caldera and the most densely populated because it includes the city of Naples. Furthermore, they allowed for the first in-situ measurements, at 500 m of depth, of loading stress and fluid-dynamical parameters like permeability, thus already representing a large step forward towards a complete fluid-dynamical interpretation of the ground uplift episodes called 'bradyseism'.
6 Facing Volcanic and Related Hazards in the Neapolitan Area Giovanni Orsi, Sandro de Vita,Mauro ... more 6 Facing Volcanic and Related Hazards in the Neapolitan Area Giovanni Orsi, Sandro de Vita,Mauro A. Di Vito, Roberto Isaia, Rosella Nave, and Grant ... The last period of such activity occurred between 1631 and 1944 (Andronico et al., 1995; Cioni et al., 1999; Arrighi et al., 2001 ...
ABSTRACT The joint application of different seismological techniques for seismic noise analysis, ... more ABSTRACT The joint application of different seismological techniques for seismic noise analysis, and the results of a volcanological and morphostructural survey, have allowed us to obtain a detailed and well constrained image of the shallow crustal structure of the Solfatara volcano (Campi Flegrei caldera, Italy). Horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios, inversion of surface wave dispersion curves and polarization analysis provided resonance frequencies and peak amplitudes, shear wave velocity profiles and polarization pattern of coherent ambient noise. These results, combined in a unique framework, indicate that the volcanic edifice is characterized by lateral and vertical discontinuities and heterogeneities in terms of shear wave velocity, lithological contrasts and structural setting. The interpretation of the seismological results, with the volcanological and morphostructural constraints, supports the hypothesis that the volcano has been characterized by a complex and intense activity, with the alternation of constructive and destructive phases, during which magmatic and phreatomagmatic explosions built a complex tuff-cone, later reworked by atmospheric agents and altered by hydrothermal activity. The differences in the velocity structure between the central and eastern parts of the crater have been interpreted as resulting from a possible eastward migration of the eruptive vent along the deformational features affecting the area, and to the presence of viscous lava and lithified tuff bodies within the feeding conduits, which are buried under a covering of reworked materials of variable thickness. The observed fault and fracture systems, partially inherited from regional structural setting and exhumed during volcanism and ground deformation episodes also seems to strongly control wave propagation, affecting the noise polarization properties.
ABSTRACT The joint application of different seismological techniques for seismic noise analysis, ... more ABSTRACT The joint application of different seismological techniques for seismic noise analysis, and the results of a volcanological and morphostructural survey, have allowed us to obtain a detailed and well constrained image of the shallow crustal structure of the Solfatara volcano (Campi Flegrei caldera, Italy). Horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios, inversion of surface wave dispersion curves and polarization analysis provided resonance frequencies and peak amplitudes, shear wave velocity profiles and polarization pattern of coherent ambient noise. These results, combined in a unique framework, indicate that the volcanic edifice is characterized by lateral and vertical discontinuities and heterogeneities in terms of shear wave velocity, lithological contrasts and structural setting. The interpretation of the seismological results, with the volcanological and morphostructural constraints, supports the hypothesis that the volcano has been characterized by a complex and intense activity, with the alternation of constructive and destructive phases, during which magmatic and phreatomagmatic explosions built a complex tuff-cone, later reworked by atmospheric agents and altered by hydrothermal activity. The differences in the velocity structure between the central and eastern parts of the crater have been interpreted as resulting from a possible eastward migration of the eruptive vent along the deformational features affecting the area, and to the presence of viscous lava and lithified tuff bodies within the feeding conduits, which are buried under a covering of reworked materials of variable thickness. The observed fault and fracture systems, partially inherited from regional structural setting and exhumed during volcanism and ground deformation episodes also seems to strongly control wave propagation, affecting the noise polarization properties.
6 Facing Volcanic and Related Hazards in the Neapolitan Area Giovanni Orsi, Sandro de Vita,Mauro ... more 6 Facing Volcanic and Related Hazards in the Neapolitan Area Giovanni Orsi, Sandro de Vita,Mauro A. Di Vito, Roberto Isaia, Rosella Nave, and Grant ... The last period of such activity occurred between 1631 and 1944 (Andronico et al., 1995; Cioni et al., 1999; Arrighi et al., 2001 ...
The Campi Flegrei volcano (or Phlegraean Fields), Campania, Italy, generated the largest eruption... more The Campi Flegrei volcano (or Phlegraean Fields), Campania, Italy, generated the largest eruption in Europe in at least 200 ka. Here we summarise the volcanic and human history of Campi Flegrei and discuss the interactions between humans and the environment within the "burning fields" from around 10,000 years until the 1538 CE Monte Nuovo eruption and more recent times. The region's incredibly rich written history documents how the landscape changed both naturally and anthropogenically, with the volcanic system fuelling these considerable natural changes. Humans have exploited the beautiful landscape, accessible resources (e.g. volcanic ash for pulvis puteolana mortar) and natural thermal springs associated with the volcano for millennia, but they have also endured the downsides of living in a volcanically active region-earthquakes, significant ground deformation and landscape altering eruptions. The prehistoric record is detailed, and various archaeological sites indicate that the region was certainly occupied in the last 10,000 years. This history has been reconstructed by identifying archaeological finds in sequences that often contain ash (tephra) layers from some of the numerous volcanic eruptions from Campi Flegrei and the other volcanoes in the region that were active at the time (Vesuvius and Ischia). These tephra layers provide both a relative and absolute chronology and allow the archaeology to be placed on a relatively precise timescale. The records testify that people have inhabited the area even when Campi Flegrei was particularly active. The archaeological sequences and outcrops of pyroclastic material preserve details about the eruption dynamics, buildings from Roman times, impressive craters that now host volcanic lakes and nature reserves, all of which make this region particularly mystic and fascinating, especially when we observe how society continues to live within the active caldera system. The volcanic activity and long record of occupation and use of volcanic resources in the region make it unique and here we outline key aspects of its geoheritage.
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