Mediterranean Yellowstone: Naples' Campi Flegrei Supervolcano

[Hervé]

Set to blow? Supervolcano Campi Flegrei reawakening near Naples, could hit 500,000 people

Published time: 21 Dec, 2016 14:43
Edited time: 21 Dec, 2016 15:06
Get short URL

Pisciarelli fumaroles and mud pools from the Campi Flegrei caldera, a super volcano, near Naples © Carmine Minopoli / AFP

An Italian supervolcano is showing signs of reawakening, with any eruption potentially affecting half a million people, scientists say. The volcano is located across the Bay of Naples from the famous Vesuvius, which saw one of most destructive eruptions in history.

Campi Flegrei, or the Phlegraean Fields, is a large volcanic area located in the metropolitan area of Naples, one of the most densely-inhabited areas in the world, with over 3 million people. The 13km-wide ‘caldera’, a large cauldron-like depression, lies mostly underwater and has 24 craters and volcanic edifices.

A NASA space shuttle's photo of the area, with main features labeled

A recent study led by Italian and French scientists from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Bologna states that, “Of the several quiescent calderas worldwide, Campi Flegrei has recently shown among the clearest signs of unrest.”

The research was released on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

The study says that there is a certain threshold beyond which magma could trigger the release of fluids and gases at an increased rate.

“Hydrothermal rocks, if heated, can ultimately lose their mechanical resistance, causing acceleration towards critical conditions,” Giovanni Chiodini, a researcher, told AFP.

It’s not clear exactly if or when the volcano will erupt, according to Chiodini, but if it does, it “would be very dangerous” for the local population.

“The presence of more than half a million people living in the proximity of the [Campi Flegrei] caldera makes this situation particularly challenging for local authorities and other decision-makers,” the study said.

The dense population at risk "highlights the urgency of obtaining a better understanding of Campi Flegrei's behavior," Chiodini added.

To see more from Vulcano Solfatara on Facebook, log in or create an account.

News Feed

Vulcano Solfatara Yesterday at 2:00am ·

LA SCIENZA DEL MARTEDI'
Campi Flegrei Deep Drilling Project: il pozzo di Bagnoli e uno studio che analizza i Campi Flegrei orientali.
#vulcanosolfatara #vulcano #solfatara #lascienzadelmartedì #solfataravolcano #scienza #ingv #ovingv #osservatoriovesuviano #istitutonazionalegeofisicavulcanologia #geofisica #vulcanologia #deepdrillingproject #campiflegrei #areaflegrea #campiflegreideepdrillingproject #cfddp #ignimbritecampana #tufogiallonapoletano #bagnoli

Campi Flegrei Deep Drilling Project: il pozzo di Bagnoli e uno studio che analizza i Campi Flegrei orientali
"La Scienza del Martedì", rubrica settimanale di attualità e approfondimento scientifico
www.vulcanosolfatara.it|By Vulcano Solfatara

Campi Flegrei was formed some 40,000 years ago, spewing out dozens of cubic kilometers of magma, rock and lava. One theory claims that the eruption was so large it led to the extinction of the Neanderthals.

The last eruption of the supervolcano took place back in 1538, but was much smaller in scale. The blast did, however, create a new hill – Monte Nuovo.

Since 2005 scientists have been detecting an increase of low-level activity and heating, as well as ground and magma deformation in the area. In 2012 the status of the volcano was changed from ‘green’ (quiet) to ‘yellow’ (scientific attention).

"These areas can give rise to the only eruptions that can have global catastrophic effects comparable to major meteorite impacts," Giuseppe De Natale, head of a project to monitor the volcano, told Reuters back in 2012.

[wnlight]

Magma deformation stories like this are popping up world-wide. I suspect that we will have some volcanic bad times ahead of us.

[Sunny-side-up]

Thanks for reminding me Hervé

No really thanks, is good to know what your enemy's are doing.

Just the planet doing what it needs to do.

[lucidity]

How many of these "she's about to blow" stories do you have to read
before you get a sixth sense .... she aint going to blow ?

What ever the number, i've reached it.
Anyone expecting a 'once-in-250-thousand-year" super eruption
has, by definition, a very long time to wait.

She aint going to blow... but she might huff and puff a little...
and maybe shake her ass.

Would anyone like to buy Naples Volcano Super-Eruption Insurance ?

[shaberon]

Oh, there's Lago Averno, known to the poets as Avernus or the gate of hell.

Karakatoa erupted around 1857 or so and blanketed the globe in darkness for three days, and Vesuvius and Thera were both very recent on a geological time scale. That's often enough to be worth keeping an eye on them.

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

That is cause for concern. But if this really is a 'super volcano', then surely the effects of an eruption would disturb far more than the local population, as the reports alleges. I would expect all of europe to be in the firing line, and having ultimately global impact.

[Hervé]

Posted by Star Mariner (here)
That is cause for concern. But if this really is a 'super volcano', then surely the effects of an eruption would disturb far more than the local population, as the reports alleges. I would expect all of europe to be in the firing line, and having ultimately global impact.

Indeed...

From Wikipedia:

Volcanic eruptions are classified using the Volcanic Explosivity Index, or VEI. It is a logarithmic scale, which means that an increase of one in VEI number is equivalent to a tenfold increase in volume of erupted material. VEI 7 or VEI 8 eruptions are so powerful that they often form circular calderas rather than cones because the downward withdrawal of magma causes the overlying rock mass to collapse into the empty magma chamber beneath it.

- - -

VEI 8 eruptions are colossal events that throw out at least 1,000 km3 (240 cu mi) bulk volume.
VEI 7 events eject bulk volume at least 100 km3 (24 cu mi).
VEI 6 eruptions occurred at Krakatoa in 1883 and Mount Pinatubo in 1991. These eruptions ejected ~10 and 25 km3 (2.4 and 6.0 cu mi) bulk volume, respectively. At Krakatoa, the Dutch colonial authorities claimed that the death toll was 36,417, but other estimates consider that the death toll is in excess of 120,000.

- - -

The First Phlegraean Period. It is thought that the eruption of the Archiflegreo volcano occurred about 39,280 ± 110 years (older estimate ~37,000 years) ago, erupting about 200 km3 (48 cu mi) of magma (500 km3 (120 cu mi) bulk volume)[5] to produce the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption.[6] Its Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) was 7. "The dating of the Campanian Ignimbrite Eruption (CI) to ~37,000 calendar years B.P. draws attention to the coincidence of this volcanic catastrophe and the suite of coeval, Late Pleistocene biocultural changes that occurred within and outside the Mediterranean region. These included the Middle to Upper Paleolithic cultural transition and the replacement of Neanderthal populations by anatomically modern Homo sapiens, a subject of sustained debate.[7] No less than 150 km3 of magma were extruded in this eruption (the CI eruption), whose signal can be detected in Greenland ice cores. As widespread discontinuities in archaeological sequences are observed at or after this eruption, a significant interference with ongoing human processes in Mediterranean Europe is hypothesized." [8] It is possible that these eruptions drove Neanderthals to extinction and cleared the way for modern humans to thrive in Europe and Asia.[9]

- - -

Most recent study from Instituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia describing recent volcanic unrest of Campi Flegrei caldera from January 2012 to June 2013 characterised by rapid ground uplift of about 11 centimetres (4 in) with a peak rate of about 3 centimetres (1 in) per month during December 2012 mentions, that in previous years from 1985 to 2011 dynamics of ground uplift has been mostly linked to caldera's hydrothermal system. As study describes, this relation broke down in 2012 and the driving mechanism of the ground uplift changed to periodical emplacement of a magma within a flat, sill-shaped magmatic reservoir in depth cca 3,000 metres (9,843 ft), 500 metres (1,640 ft) south from port of Pozzuoli[13]

In December of 2016, activity became so high that an eruption was feared.[14]

[Sunny-side-up]

Yup if one goes off the whole planet is in extinction condition.

[Bob]

Italy's Campi Flegrei, west of Naples may be awakening from a long slumber, scientists warn.

Campi Flegrei is thought to have formed hundreds of thousands of years ago.

A massive eruption 200,000 years ago spewed so much ash that it darkened the skies around the planet, triggering a "volcanic winter."

That event is thought to have been the largest volcanic episode in the history of Europe over that time.

It has been conjectured that an eruption about 40,000 years ago might have contributed to the extinction of the Neanderthals, a 2010 study suggested, although that report has been debated.

A smaller but still sizable eruption was observed at the supervolcano in 1538. That event lasted eight days and created the mountain Monte Nuovo. But since then, the volcano has been quiet.

Italy's government has raised the volcano's threat level from green to yellow, or from quiet to requires scientific monitoring.

Based on physical measurements and computer modeling, "we propose that magma could be approaching the CDP [critical degassing pressure] at Campi Flegrei, a volcano in the metropolitan area of Naples, one of the most densely inhabited areas in the world, and where accelerating deformation and heating are currently being observed," wrote the scientists—who are led by Giovanni Chiodini of the Italian National Institute of Geophysics in Rome.

A sudden release of hot magmatic gasses is possible in the near future, which could trigger a large eruption, the scientists warn.

Yet the timing of any possible eruption is unknown and is currently not possible to predict.

more - http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...-naples-italy/

http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms13712

[Fellow Aspirant]

The mention of a major eruption 12 000 years ago fits nicely with Graham Hancock's claim of an earth wide calamity (marking the end of the Egyptian pyramid building civilization) at the same time.

B.

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Europe's Supervolcano Threatening

PUBLISHED: 14:51, Mon, Mar 26, 2018

Research shows that a bubbling mass of magma “like a boiling pot of soup” is building beneath the Campi Flegrei volcano, western Naples - after decades of inactivity. The 24 crater, 90 square mile supervolcano is more “dangerous” than before. The last major eruption at the site was in 1538, after which magma exploded into the sky for several days. Scientists believe a stream of liquid magma that is just a few miles from Mount Vesuvius has been bubbling at Campi Flegrei since the 1980s.



Hot fluids that are moving west towards Naples are the most likely trigger of an eruption. Dr Luca De Siena, geophysics professor at University of Aberdeen, said: “It’s becoming more dangerous because it’s becoming more unpredictable.

“You can now characterise Campi Flegrei as being like a boiling pot of soup beneath the surface.”

Dr De Siena’s team of researchers were the first to prove that there was magma developing beneath the surface at Campi Flegrei. Christopher Kilburn, a volcanologist at University College London, said an eruption is not imminent - but that Naples authorities should remain ready for anything.

He suggested an eruption on the scale of the Mount Vesuvius catastrophe in 79 AD could happen. That catastrophe destroyed Pompeii, the Roman city, killing more than 1,500 people. Camp Flegrei’s fallout zone stretches for thousands of miles and could impact hundreds of thousands of people.

More... https://www.express.co.uk/news/scien...gerous-volcano