Author(s)

DE NATALE GIUSEPPE, TROISE CLAUDIA, SOMMA RENATO & GIOVANNI PERILLO

Abstract

The recent investigation carried out on the west bound of the Naples metropolitan area and inside the Campi Flegrei caldera as part of the Campi Flegrei Deep Drilling Project provided new insight in order to reconstruct the volcano-tectonic evolution of this extremely populated area. Campi Flegrei represents the highest risk volcanic areas in the world, although its volcano-tectonic structure, eruptive history and eruptive style of the largest eruptions are intensely debatedby scientists since several decades. We present here a summary of stratigraphic and geochronological dating (40Ar/39Ar) allowing to define the age of intra-caldera deposits belonging to the two highest magnitude caldera-forming eruptions (i.e. Campania Ignimbrite, 39÷40 ka, and Neapolitan Yellow Tuff, 14.9 ka) and to evaluate the amount of collapse of the eastern sector of the caldera.

These results point out: (i) a reduction of the area affected by caldera collapse, which appears to not include the city of Naples; (ii) a small volume of the infilling caldera deposits, particularly for the CI; and (iii) the need for reassessment of the collapse amounts and mechanisms related to larger eruptions. Our results also imply a revaluation of volcanic risk for the eastern caldera area, including the city of Naples. The results of this study point out that large calderas are characterised by complex collapse mechanisms and dynamics, whose understanding needs more robust constraints, which can be obtained from scientific drilling.

Keywords

Ar dating, caldera dynamic, caldera-forming eruptions, Campi Flegrei caldera, CFDDP drilling, volcanic hazard