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On 27 February 2007, at 12.49 GMT, a new eruption of Stromboli took place with the effusion of a lava flow from a fracture cutting the flank of the NE cone, which rapidly reached the sea. The eruption had been heralded by an increase in the amplitude of tremor and flank movement since at least the 14th of February. Short-term precursors were an increase in the rate of occurrence of small landslides within the “Sciara del Fuoco” scar on the North-western flank of the volcano. A new effusive vent opened at 18.30 GMT on the Sciara del Fuoco at an height of 400 m asl. The new lava emission caused the sudden termination of the summit flow and initiated a period of non-stationary lava outpouring which ended on 2 April, 2007. The eruption has been characterized by a rapid decrease in the eruption rate after the first days and subsequently by episodic pulse increases. On the 15th of March, the increase in lava outpouring, monitored by a thermal camera, heralded by 9 min the occurrence of a violent paroxysmal explosion with the formation of an impulsive eruption column and the emission of small pumices mingled with black scoriae. The pumice had a bulk composition similar to that of the lava and of the black scoriae, but with a distinct lower content of phenocrysts. A similar feature has been repeatedly observed during the major explosive paroxysms of Stromboli. Short term precursors of the paroxysm were recorded by strainmeter and tiltmeter stations. The volcano monitoring activity has been made by a joint team of researchers from the INGV sections of Catania, Napoli, Palermo and Rome, along with researchers from the Universities of Florence, Pisa, Roma Tre, and Palermo. The scientific activity was coordinated by a Synthesis Group made up by scientists responsible for the different monitoring techniques of INGV and Universities and by the volcanic experts of Commissione Nazionale Grandi Rischi of the Prime Minister Office (Civil Protection Department). The group made a daily evaluation of the state of the volcano and transmitted its recommendations to the Civil Protection Department (DPC). Several prevention measures were adopted by DPC, the main of which were the evacuation of the coast zone when strong acceleration of the Sciara del Fuoco slope motion (occurred twice) could led to a dangerous tsunami by flank collapse (as last occurred on 30 December 2002) and four days before the 15 March paroxysm when access was prohibited to the part of the volcano above 290 m asl.

Turrialba volcano lies in the southern sector of the Central American Volcanic Front (CAVF) in Costa Rica. The geochemistry of major and trace elements, and Sr and Nd isotopes of a selected suite of volcanic rocks ranging in composition from basaltic andesite to dacite and belonging to the last 10ka of activity of Turrialba volcano is described, together with the He-, Ne-, and Ar-isotope compositions of fluid inclusions hosted in olivine and pyroxene crystals. Most of the variability in the rock chemistry is consistent with typical trends of fractional crystallization, but there is an outlying group of andesites that displays an adakite-like composition (with a consistent depletion in high-field-strength elements and a marked enrichment in Sr) and low 3He/4He ratios (7.0-7.2 Ra). The trace-element composition of these rocks is typical of subduction-related magmas influenced by an OIB-like component at the source associated with the subduction of the Galapagos seamounts. The 87Sr/86Sr (0.703612-0.703678) and 143Nd/144Nd (0.512960-0.512984) ratios of the bulk rocks vary within narrow ranges, and are among the least-radiogenic isotope signatures of the CAVF volcanoes. The 3He/4He ratios measured in fluid inclusions hosted in olivine crystals (up to 8.1 Ra) are among the highest for the CAVF, and indicate that radiogenic 4He from fluids derived from the subducting slab contribute negligibly to the mantle wedge. The difference in He isotopes between most of studied rocks and those showing adakite-like features reasonably reflects two distinct components in the local mantle: (1) a MORB-like component, characterized by the highest He-isotope ratios (7.8-8.1 Ra), and (2) an OIB-like component, characterized by lower He-isotope ratios (7.0-7.2 Ra), coming from the subduction of the Galapagos seamounts. An overview at the regional scale indicates that high He-isotope ratios are peculiar to the two extreme sectors of the CAVF (Costa Rica to the south and Guatemala to the north), whereas in the central sector (Nicaragua) the magma source is probably contaminated by slab fluids.For the past few years Turrialba volcano has been in a volcanic unrest phase that has included a series of explosions, the most recent of which occurred between October 2014 and May 2015. The volcano is subject to an ongoing safety alert due to the possibility of a magmatic eruption. One of the crucial questions to be addressed is the kind of eruption that can be expected, and hence what type of magma is likely to be involved. The high 3He/4He ratios (7.8-8.0 Ra) measured during 2011 at high-temperature fumaroles of Turrialba craters are comparable to those measured in fluid inclusions of basaltic andesites that erupted in 1864-1866, suggesting that the magma currently feeding the shallow plumbing system has similar geochemical characteristics to the most recently erupted magma.

A borehole drilled at Fiumicino (Rome) down to only 27 m depth in a zone where no gas emission at the surface was known, caused a gas blowout from a pressurized gas pocket confined beneath a clay cover. Gas slowly diffused from the borehole within superficial permeable sand. Seven persons living in three ground floor flats of a near building had to be hospitalized due to CO2 exposure. All the houses in the proximity were evacuated. At the request of the Fire Brigade two additional boreholes were drilled nearby, hoping that this could rapidly exhaust the gas stored underground. To the contrary the soil gas flux near houses increased and indoor CO2 air concentration rapidly rose to lethal values (15 to 30 vol.%). As a remediation we suggested to restore the continuity of the impervious gas cover by squeezing quick-setting cement into the formation through new boreholes to be drilled near the existing ones. Although the first cement squeeze reduced drastically the CO2 soil flux and indoor concentration, six additional squeezes had to be carried out in order to lower the gas emission below the gas hazard threshold. The gas was mostly made of CO2 (98 vol.%) with minor N2 and CH4. Its chemical and isotopic composition (δ13CCO2 = − 1.55; 3He/4He = 0.314 Ra) is similar to that of the gas manifestations of Mts. Sabatini and Alban Hills volcanic areas. Though being somewhat contaminated by crustal and shallow organic volatiles, these gases likely have a component originated in the mantle, that beneath the volcanic Roman Comagmatic Province is probably deeply contaminated with crustal material. The Fiumicino gas blowout indicates that the area of Central Italy characterized by strong CO2 degassing extends westerly to include the Tyrrhenian coast.

""\\"\\\\\\"Platanares and Azacualpa geothermal sites of Honduras are located in an inner part of the Caribbean Plate far from the active volcanic front of Central America. Here geology indicates that there are not the conditions for the occurrence of shallow magmatic heat sources for high-enthalpy geothermal resources. Geothermal perspectives are related to the possibility of a deep circulation of meteoric water along faults and the storage of the heated fluid in fractured permeable reservoirs. Geochemical geothermometers indicate a temperature for the deeper part of the geothermal reservoir close to 200 °C for Platanares and of 150–170 °C for Azacualpa. Calcite scaling, with subordinate silica deposition has to be expected in both sites. CO2 soil flux investigations have been carried out in both areas and reveal the presence of positive anomalies likely corresponding to the presence at depth of fractured degassing geothermal reservoirs. Compared with the geothermal areas of Central Italy whose reservoirs are hosted in carbonate rocks, e.g. Latera (Chiodini et al., 2007), the CO2 soil flux measured in Honduras is significantly lower (mean of 17 g\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/m2day at Platanares and of 163 g\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/m2day at Azacualpa) probably because of the dominant silicate nature of the deep reservoirs.\\\\\\"\\"""

Gas hazard was evaluated in the three most important cold gas emission zones on the flanks of the quiescent Colli Albani volcano. These zones are located above structural highs of the buried carbonate basement which represents the main regional aquifer and the main reservoir for gas rising from depth. All extensional faults affecting the limestone reservoir represent leaking pathways along which gas rises to the surface and locally accumulates in shallow permeable horizons forming pressurized pockets that may produce gas blowout when reached by wells. The gas, mainly composed of CO 2 (>90 vol.%), contains appreciable quantities of H 2 S (0.35–6 vol.%), and both represent a potentially high local hazard. Both gases are denser than air and accumulate near ground where they may reach hazardous concentrations, and lethal accidents frequently occur to animals watering at local ponds. In order to evaluate the rate of degassing and the related hazard, CO 2 and H 2 S diffuse soil flux surveys have been repeatedly carried out using an accumulation chamber. The viscous gas flux of some important discrete emissions has been evaluated and the CO 2 and H 2 S air concentration measured by portable devices and by Tunable Diode Laser profiles. The minimum potential lethal concentration of the two gases (250 ppm for H 2 S and 8 vol.% for CO 2 ) is 320 times higher for CO 2 , whereas the CO 2 /H 2 S concentration ratio in the emitted natural gas is significantly lower (15–159). This explains why H 2 S reaches hazardous, even lethal, concentrations more frequently than CO 2 . A relevant hazard exists for both gases in the depressed zones (channels, excavations) particularly in the non-windy early hours of the day.

In order to test the potentiality of soil CO2 diffuse degassing measurements for the study of underground mass and heat transfer in geothermal systems detailed surveys were performed at Latera caldera, which is an excellent test site, because of the abundant available subsurface data. Over 2500 measurements of soil CO2 flux revealed that endogenous CO2 at Latera caldera concentrates on a NE-SW band coinciding with a structural high of fractured Mesozoic limestones hosting a water-dominated high-enthalpy geothermal reservoir. The total hydrothermal CO2 degassing from the structural high has been evaluated at 350 t d-1 from an area of 3.1 km2. It has been estimated that such a CO2 release would imply a geothermal liquid flux of 263 kg s-1, with a heat release of 239 MW. The chemical and isotopic composition of the gas indicates a provenance from the geothermal reservoir and that CO2 is partly originated by thermal metamorphic decarbonation in the hottest deepest parts of the system and partly has a likely mantle origin. The ratios of CO2, H2, CH4, and CO to Ar were used to estimate the T-P conditions of the reservoir. Results cluster at T ∼ 200-300°C and PCO2 ∼ 100-200 bars, close to the actual well measurements. Finally, the approach proved to be an excellent tool to investigate the presence of an active geothermal reservoir at depth and that the H2-CO2- CH4-CO-Ar gas composition is a useful T-P geochemical indicator for such CO2 rich geothermal systems.

Investigations of Rb-Sr systematics of basalts from the Afar depression (Ethiopia) indicate the presence of a heterogeneous mantle source region. The Sr isotopic compositions of the basalts from the Afar axial and transverse ranges identify source regions which are enriched in LIL elements and radiogenic Sr (axial ranges) and others which are relatively depleted (transverse ranges). Sr isotopic composition of basalts from the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Gulf of Tadjoura, which range from 0.70300 to 0.70340 are also reported and compared with the more radiogenic Afar region, which is characterized by87Sr/86Sr ranging from 0.70328 to 0.70410. Available geochemical and isotopic data suggest that a relation exists between magma composition and the advancement of the rifting process through progressive lithosphere attenuation leading to continental break-up. However, the petrogenetic process is not simple and probably implies a vertically zoned mantle beneath the Afar region. Sr isotopic evidence suggests that the vertically zoned mantle is more radiogenic and enriched in LIL elements in its upper part.

The results of volcanological and petrochemical studies, MT surveys, passive seismic studies and a new gravity and magnetic interpretation relatively to the Phlegraean Fields area, Italy, are presented.