0000000000597679
AUTHOR
Valerio Acocella
Hydrothermal fluid venting in the offshore sector of Campi Flegrei caldera: A geochemical, geophysical, and volcanological study
The ongoing unrest at the Campi Flegrei caldera (CFc) in southern Italy is prompting exploration of its poorly studied offshore sector. We report on a multidisciplinary investigation of the Secca delle Fumose (SdF), a submarine relief known since antiquity as the largest degassing structure of the offshore sector of CFc. We combined high-resolution morpho-bathymetric and seismo-stratigraphic data with onshore geological information to propose that the present-day SdF morphology and structure developed during the initial stages of the last CFc eruption at Monte Nuovo in AD 1538. We suggest that the SdF relief stands on the eastern uplifted border of a N-S-trending graben-like structure forme…
Hydrothermal fluid venting in the offshore sector of Campi Flegrei caldera: A geochemical, geophysical, and volcanological study
The ongoing unrest at the Campi Flegrei caldera (CFc) in southern Italy is prompting exploration of its poorly studied offshore sector. We report on a multidisciplinary investigation of the Secca delle Fumose (SdF), a submarine relief known since antiquity as the largest degassing structure of the offshore sector of CFc. We combined high-resolution morphobathymetric and seismostratigraphic data with onshore geological information to propose that the present-day SdF morphology and structure developed during the initial stages of the last CFc eruption at Monte Nuovo in AD 1538. We suggest that the SdF relief stands on the eastern uplifted border of a N-S-trending graben-like structure formed …
Magmas near the critical degassing pressure drive volcanic unrest towards a critical state
During the reawaking of a volcano, magmas migrating through the shallow crust have to pass through hydrothermal fluids and rocks. The resulting magma–hydrothermal interactions are still poorly understood, which impairs the ability to interpret volcano monitoring signals and perform hazard assessments. Here we use the results of physical and volatile saturation models to demonstrate that magmatic volatiles released by decompressing magmas at a critical degassing pressure (CDP) can drive volcanic unrest towards a critical state. We show that, at the CDP, the abrupt and voluminous release of H2O-rich magmatic gases can heat hydrothermal fluids and rocks, triggering an accelerating deformation …