Multiple magma degassing sources at an explosive volcano

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Distal tephra from Campanian eruptions in early Late Holocene fills of the Agro Pontino graben and Fondi basin (Southern Lazio, Italy)

Following on the discovery (in 2011) of a layer of distal tephra from the Pomici di Avellino eruption (Somma-Vesuvius, EU5) in the Agro Pontino (southern Lazio, Italy), further detailed study of the Holocene sediment archives in this graben and in the nearby Fondi coastal basin showed that distal tephra from this EU5 eruption occurs as a rather continuous, conspicuous layer. Two other, less conspicuous tephra layers were found, identified as the earlier Astroni 6 eruption from the Campi Flegrei (Fondi basin) and the later AP2 eruption of the Somma-Vesuvius (Agro Pontino). The identification of the distal tephra layers rests upon a combination of criteria, including stratigraphy, macro characteristics, mineralogy, geochemical data on glass composition, Sr-isotopic ratios, and the known tephrochronology for the period concerned, i.e. between c. 2500 and 1000 BCE. 14C datings serve to constrain their age. No significant spatial variation in the characteristics of the main tephra layer (EU5) was observed, other than distinct fining with increasing distance from the vent. Based on a detailed palaeogeographical reconstruction, the occurrence and preservation of these tephra are explained by the local environmental conditions governing their preservation during this time span (the Central Italian Bronze Age), and by the later evolution of the area. The observations underpin that multiple corings are needed to fully assess whether sedimentary hiatuses exist in palaeorecords, based on cores from sediment archives. Lastly, our study shows that hazard evaluations for future eruptions by Campanian volcanoes should pay more attention to their potential impacts on distal areas

Geochemical tracers in complex hydrogeological settings: the Roccamonfina volcanic vs. mt. massico sedimentary aquifers (southern Italy)

Volcanic aquifers, sedimentary basins, hydrogeochemistry, hydrogeology, isotopic composition

The deep and magmatic degassing source of unrest episodes at Campi Flegrei caldera (southern Italy)

Volcanic calderas are affected by unrest episodes usually dominated by hybrid magmatic-hydrothermal system dynamics. Unrest episodes can evolve to eruptions of variable intensity, up to Plinian. Campi Flegrei caldera (CFc) is a type-location for this kind of activity escalation. CFc provides unique opportunity to build-up a volcanological model in which geochemical, geological and geophysical data are interpreted together to understand how degassing following magma emplacement drives the caldera resurgence. Uneruptive unrest episodes reflect i) a sudden increase of the CO2 magmatic fraction following the shallow emplacement of one single volatile-rich magma batch, ii) voluminous gas separation in a nearly single-step process, and iii), on longer times scales of 10-20 years, degassing driven by crystallization and deep gas fluxing. Our volcanological model matches three decades of geochemical constraints from fumarole discharges, as well as data from melt inclusions of past CFc eruptions. Besides, magma physical properties demanded for modeled degassing conditions are in good agreement with existing geophysical data. Our results open new perspectives to the definition of unrest scenarios at highly-populated CFc

The Deep Plumbing System of Ischia: a Physico-chemical Window on the Fluid-saturated and CO2-sustained Neapolitan Volcanism (Southern Italy)

Ischia, a volcanic island located 18 miles SW of Naples (Southern Italy), is a densely populated active caldera that last erupted in AD 1302. Melt inclusions in phenocrysts of the Vateliero and Cava Nocelle shoshonite-latite eruptive products (6th to 4th centuries BC) constrain the structure and nature of the Ischia deep magmatic feeding system. Their geochemical characteristics make Ischia a natural borehole for probing the physico-chemical conditions of magma generation in mantle contaminated by slab-derived fluids or melts, largely dominated by CO2. Volatile concentrations in olivine-hosted melt inclusions require gas-melt equilibria at between 3 and 18 km depth. In agreement with what has already been demonstrated at the other neighboring Neapolitan volcanoes (Procida, Campi Flegrei caldera and Somma-Vesuvius volcanic complex), a major crystallization depth at 8-10 km has been identified.The analyzed melt inclusions provide clear evidence for CO2-dominated gas fluxing and consequent dehydration of magma batches stagnating at crustal discontinuities. Gas fluxing is further supported by selective enrichment in K owing to fluid-transfer during magma differentiation.This takes place under oxidized conditions (Fe3+/EFe>=0·3) that can be fixed by an equimolar proportion of divalent and trivalent iron in the melt if post-entrapment crystallization of the host olivine is discarded. The melt inclusion data, together with data from the literature for other Neapolitan volcanoes, show that magmatism and volcanism in the Neapolitan area, despite differences in composition and eruption dynamics, are closely linked to supercritical CO2-rich fluids.These fluids are produced by devolatilization of subducting terrigenous-pelagic metasediments and infiltrate the overlying mantle wedge, generate magmas and control their ascent up to eruption. Geochemical characteristics of Ischia and the other Neapolitan volcanoes reveal that the extent of fluid or melt contamination of the pre-subduction asthenospheric mantle wedge was similar among these volcanoes. However, differences in the isotopic compositions of the erupted magmas (more enriched in radiogenic Sr at Ischia, Campi Flegrei and Somma-Vesuvius with respect to Procida) and the amount of H2O in the plumbing system of these volcanoes (almost double at Ischia, Campi Flegrei and Somma-Vesuvius than at Procida) reflect the different flow-rates of deep slab-derived fluids or melts through the mantle wedge, which, in turn, control the amount of generated magma.The high bulk permeability of the lithosphere below Ischia, Campi Flegrei and Somma-Vesuvius, determined by the occurrence of intersecting NW-SE and NE-SW regional fault systems, favours fluid ascent and accumulation at crustal levels, with consequent larger magma production and storage than at Procida, located along the NE-SW system

A multidisciplinary study of an exceptional prehistoric waste dump in the mountainous inland of Calabria (Italy) : implications for reconstructions of prehistoric land use and vegetation in Southern Italy

The mountainous inland of northern Calabria (Southern Italy) is known for its sparse prehistoric human occupation. Nevertheless, a thorough multidisciplinary approach of field walking, geophysical survey and invasive research led to the discovery of a major archaeological archive. This archive concerns a rich multi-phased dump, spanning about 3000 years (Late Neolithic to Late Imperial Roman Age) and holding two Somma-Vesuvius tephra. Of these, the younger is a distinct layer of juvenile tephra from the Pompeii eruption, while the older concerns reworked tephra from the Bronze Age AP2 eruption (ca. 1700 cal. yr BP). The large dump contains abundant ceramics, faunal remains and charcoal, and most probably originated through long-continued deposition of waste in a former gully like system of depressions. This resulted in an inversed, mound-like relief, whose anthropogenic origin had not been recognized in earlier research. The tephras were found to be important markers that support the reconstruction of the occupational history of the site. The sequence of occupational phases is very similar to that observed in a recent palaeoecological study from nearby situated former lakes (Lago Forano/Fontana Manca). This suggests that this sequence reflects the more regional occupational history of Calabria, which goes back to ca. 3000 BC. Attention is paid to the potential link between this history and Holocene climatic phases, for which no indication was found. The history deviates strongly from histories deduced from the few, but major palaeorecords elsewhere in the inlands of Southern Italy (Lago Grande di Monticchio and Lago Trifoglietti). We conclude that major regional variation occurred in prehistoric land use and its impacts on the vegetation cover of Southern Italy, and studies of additional palaeoarchives are needed to unravel this complex history. Finally, shortcomings of archaeological predictive models are discussed and the advantages of truly integrated multidisciplinary research

The protohistoric briquetage at Puntone (Tuscany, Italy):A multidisciplinary attempt to unravel its age and role in the salt supply of Early States in Tyrrhenian Central Italy

While processes involved in the protohistoric briquetage at Puntone (Tuscany, Italy) have been reconstructed in detail, the age of this industry remained uncertain since materials suited for traditional dating (14C dating on charcoal and typological dating of ceramics) were very scarce. We attempted to assess its age by radiocarbon dating organic matter and carbonates in strata that were directly linked to the industry. Microbial DNA and C isotope analyses showed that the organic matter is dominantly composed of labile organic matter, of which the age is coeval with the briquetage industry. Carbonates had a complex origin and were overall unsuited for radiocarbon dating: Shells in process residues exhibited a large, uncertain ‘marine reservoir effect’, hampering their use for dating the industry; the secondary carbonates in these residues had a quite varied composition, including much more recent carbonate that precipitated from infiltrated lateral run-off, as could be concluded from C and Sr isotope analyses. Dates found that were deemed reliable (c. 1000–100 cal BCE) show that this ancient industry, which started in the Late Bronze Age - Early Iron Age (1107–841 cal BCE), extended into the Roman Republican period and was contemporary with the saltern-based larger scale salt industry in Central Lazio

A multi-methodological approach to record dynamics and timescales of the plumbing system of Zaro (Ischia Island, Italy)

Determining the time spans of processes related to the assembly of eruptible magma at active volcanoes is fundamental to understand magma chamber dynamics and assess volcanic hazard. This information can be recorded in the chemical zoning of crystals. Nevertheless, this kind of study is still poorly employed for the active volcanoes of the Neapolitan area (Southern Italy), in particular, for Ischia island where the risk is extremely high and this information can provide the basis for probabilistic volcanic hazard assessment. For these reasons, we acquired chemical composition on clinopyroxene crystals erupted at Ischia during the Zaro eruption (6.6 ± 2.2 ka) and performed numerical simulations of the input of mafic magma into a trachytic reservoir, in order to investigate various aspects of pre-eruptive dynamics occurring at different timescales. This event emplaced a ~ 0.1 km3 lava complex, in which the main trachytic lava flows host abundant mafic to felsic enclaves. Previous petrological investigation suggested that mafic magma(s) mixed/mingled with a trachytic one, before the eruption. In this work, the clinopyroxene zoning patterns depict the growth of crystals in different magmatic environments, recording sequential changes occurred in the plumbing system before the eruption. The evolution of the plumbing system involved a hierarchy of timescales: a few hours for magma mingling caused by mafic recharge(s) and likely occurred multiple times over a decade during which a dominant magmatic environment was sustained before the eruption. Such timescales must be considered in volcanic hazard assessment at Ischia and similar active volcanoes in densely populated areas

A Holocene tephra layer within coastal aeolian deposits north of Caleta Olivia (Santa Cruz Province, Argentina)

In this paper we illustrate the stratigraphy, geochronology, and geochemistry (major, minor, trace elements and Sr-isotopes) of a Holocene tephra layer found within coastal sedimentary deposits north of Caleta Olivia (Santa Cruz Province, Argentina). The stratigraphic succession comprises beach deposits with basal erosive surface resting on the local substrate (“Formación Patagonia”) followed by a poorly developed paleosoil. The paleosoil is covered by a lenticular fine grained (Mdφ: 5.2, 0.027 mm), well sorted (σφ: 1.2) volcanic ash layer and aeolian sands. The geochemical composition of shard fragments points to an origin from the Hudson volcano, located in the southern Andes, ca. 400 km to the west. The geochemistry, Sr-isotopes and the radiometric constraints (younger than the age of the underlying marine layer dated at ca. 4,100 a cal BP) further allow correlating this tephra with the so-called H2 eruption (ca. 3,900 a cal BP). This finding is of interest owing to the poor preservation potential of tephra within the Late Holocene sedimentary deposits of the Atlantic coast of Patagonia and represents the first finding of H2 eruption in this area, improving our knowledge of the dispersion of the fine-grained distal deposit of the Hudson volcanic explosive activity, thus allowing a better estimate of the eruptive dynamics and the risks associated with the Hudson volcano