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Integrated field-based volcanology and petrologic studies can provide relevant clues about the way in which structural features, magma replenishment of a shallow subcaldera reservoir, and magma evolution exert control on eruption behavior during post-caldera volcanism. Post-caldera activity of the past 1000 years at the La Fossa caldera (Island of Vulcano, Italy) occurred at two vents: the dominantly explosive La Fossa vent located at the center of the caldera and the lava-dominated Vulcanello vent located close to the northern ring fault of the caldera. Revised chrono-stratigraphic data indicate that the activity occurred in two clusters of eruptions: in the eleventh to twelfth centuries and during the seventeenth century. The activity was, in part, contemporaneous with La Fossa vent and led to the formation of three, partially overlapped Strombolian cones. Each cone-building episode was accompanied by the outpouring of lava in subaerial and submarine environments. The erupted volumes of the pyroclastic cones vary between 2 × 10−3 and 3 × 10−6 km3, while the volumes of the three lavas span between 0.3 km3 (a submarine lava field) and 3 × 10−3 km3. Petrology data indicate that the activity of Vulcanello was fed by three different magma batches: Vulcanello 1 was fed by a slightly zoned reservoir of shoshonitic composition, Vulcanello 2 was fed by a slightly more evolved magma whereas Vulcanello 3 was fed by latitic magma. The compositions of melt inclusions (major elements and volatile content) trapped in olivine separated from pyroclastic materials record the entire differentiation history and suggest that all Vulcanello magmas underwent volatile loss during pre-eruption equilibration at ≤1 km depth. Integration of all available information also suggests that in the last 1000 years, the northern caldera fault acted as a preferential duct for the rise of degassed magma from the sub-caldera magma reservoir whereas volatile release namely took place separately at La Fossa cone where activity was almost entirely explosive in nature.

On April 5, 2003, Stromboli volcano (Italy) produced the most violent explosion of the past 50 years. The event was exceptionally well documented thanks to the presence on the island of several scientists and a large number of instruments deployed over the preceding months to monitor the effusive eruption that began in December 2002. Integration of visual documentation, deposit features and geophysical data allowed an accurate reconstruction of the explosive event and its dynamics. The eruption consisted of a 8-min long explosive event which evolved through four phases whose timing was precisely recorded by an infrared thermometer located about 450 m from the summit crater. Phases 2 and 3 lasted 39 and 42 s, respectively. Both had an impulsive character, were responsible for ejecting almost the entire mass of the pyroclastic products. Phases 1 and 4 represented, respectively, a short-lived precursory event and a waning tale. During Phase 2, meter-sized ballistic blocks were launched with velocities of 170 m/s to altitudes of up to 1400 m above the craters. These fell on the volcano flanks and on the village of Ginostra, about 2 km distant from the vent. A vertical jet rose above the craters which developed to feed a convective plume that reached a height of up to 4 km. The calculated mass of the Phase 2 fallout deposit and mass discharge rate were 1.1–1.4 × 108 kg and 2.8–3.6 × 106 kg/s, respectively. During Phase 3 a scoria flow deposit, with an estimated volume of 0.9–1.1 × 104 m3, was erupted from the same vent that fed the ongoing sustained lava flow. The average mass discharge rate for this phase was 2.5–3.1 × 105 kg/s. Products emitted during Phases 2 and 3 consisted of lithic and fresh magmatic material in similar proportions. The juvenile fraction consisted of a deep-originated, almost aphyric, highly vesicular pumice mingled with a shallow-derived, crystal-rich, moderately vesicular scoria. Similarities with the eruption dynamics of other historical paroxysms at Stromboli makes the April 5, 2003 explosion representative of these highly energetic events that constitute the most hazardous volcanic phenomena at Stromboli volcano.

Cotopaxi volcano (Ecuador) is famous for production of large-scale laharsthrough melting of ice and snow on its summit glacier. The lahar hazard inthe northern valleys of the volcano is assessed through numerical simulationof a maximum expected event. Considerations of past activity suggest that anevent like that of the 1877 eruption is the maximum expected lahar event.Review of the historical records reveals that northerly flowing lahars initiallyfollowed the Rio Pita and Rio Salto; at ``La Caldera'', owing to a sharp bendin the channel, the lahar partly overflowed into Rio Santa Clara. The laharsalong Rio Pita and Rio Santa Clara were conveyed to the Los Chillos valley.The simulation, using an initial flow volume of 60 × 106 m3reproduces the maximum heights reached by the 1877 lahar along the northernvalley. The volume of lahar triggered by an eruption similar to that of 1877 isestimated to have a volume about 2/3 of that of 1877. This hypothesized reductionof volume is attributed to shrinkage of the summit glacier over the past century.However, dramatic population growth along valleys exposed to lahar hazard overthe past 100 years makes the present risk from lahars higher than in the past. Thesharp bend of ``La Caldera'' represents a crucial site controlling lahar propagation:should a lahar overflow into the Santa Clara valley the risk increases considerablydue to the much higher concentration of human settlements along the valley. Resultsof a lahar simulation in which the entire flow is artificially forced into Rio Pita suggestthat construction of a dyke at ``La Caldera'' to prevent overflow would substantiallyreduce the general risk in the area.

The term “plinian” encompasses powerful explosive eruptions characterized by the quasi-steady, hours-long, high-speed discharge into the atmosphere of a high-temperature, multiphase mixture (gas, solid, and liquid particles), forming a buoyant vertical column that reaches heights of tens of kilometers and often alternates with phases of column collapse. Subplinian eruptions have lower intensity but dynamics similar to plinian events, mainly distinguishing by the occurrence of high-frequency fluctuations or of temporary breaks in the discharge. In these eruptions, the repeated generation of short-lived convective plumes may alternate with phases of quiescence or of lower intensity, explosive or effusive activity.The complex dynamics of all these events is modulated by the conditions of magma withdrawal from crustal reservoirs, and ascent, fragmentation, and dispersal in the atmosphere. The accurate observation of the sedimentological and compositional features of the deposits is a powerful tool to quantify the main parameters which control these eruptions.

Campi Flegrei (CF) is an example of an active caldera containing densely populated settlements at very high risk of pyroclastic density currents (PDCs). We present here an innovative method for assessing background spatial PDC hazard in a caldera setting with probabilistic invasion maps conditional on the occurrence of an explosive event. The method encompasses the probabilistic assessment of potential vent opening positions, derived in the companion paper, combined with inferences about the spatial density distribution of PDC invasion areas from a simplified flow model, informed by reconstruction of deposits from eruptions in the last 15 ka. The flow model describes the PDC kinematics and accounts for main effects of topography on flow propagation. Structured expert elicitation is used to incorporate certain sources of epistemic uncertainty, and a Monte Carlo approach is adopted to produce a set of probabilistic hazard maps for the whole CF area. Our findings show that, in case of eruption, almost the entire caldera is exposed to invasion with a mean probability of at least 5%, with peaks greater than 50% in some central areas. Some areas outside the caldera are also exposed to this danger, with mean probabilities of invasion of the order of 5-10%. Our analysis suggests that these probability estimates have location-specific uncertainties which can be substantial. The results prove to be robust with respect to alternative elicitation models and allow the influence on hazard mapping of different sources of uncertainty, and of theoretical and numerical assumptions, to be quantified.

Campi Flegrei is an active volcanic area situated in the Campanian Plain (Italy) and dominated by a resurgent caldera. The great majority of past eruptions have been explosive, variable in magnitude, intensity, and in their vent locations. In this hazard assessment study we present a probabilistic analysis using a variety of volcanological data sets to map the background spatial probability of vent opening conditional on the occurrence of an event in the foreseeable future. The analysis focuses on the reconstruction of the location of past eruptive vents in the last 15 ka, including the distribution of faults and surface fractures as being representative of areas of crustal weakness. One of our key objectives was to incorporate some of the main sources of epistemic uncertainty about the volcanic system through a structured expert elicitation, thereby quantifying uncertainties for certain important model parameters and allowing outcomes from different expert weighting models to be evaluated. Results indicate that past vent locations are the most informative factors governing the probabilities of vent opening, followed by the locations of faults and then fractures. Our vent opening probability maps highlight the presence of a sizeable region in the central eastern part of the caldera where the likelihood of new vent opening per kilometer squared is about 6 times higher than the baseline value for the whole caldera. While these probability values have substantial uncertainties associated with them, our findings provide a rational basis for hazard mapping of the next eruption at Campi Flegrei caldera.

After decades of repose, Puyehue-Cordon Caulle Volcano (Chile) erupted in June 2011 following a month of continuously increasing seismic activity. The eruption dispersed a large volume of rhyolitic tephra over a wide area and was characterized by complex dynamics. During the initial climactic phase of the eruption (24–30 h on 4–5 June), 11–14-km-high plumes dispersed most of the erupted tephra eastward towards Argentina, reaching as far as the Atlantic Ocean. This first eruptive phase was followed by activity of lower intensity, leading to the development of a complex stratigraphic sequence, mainly due to rapid shifts in wind direction and eruptive style. The resulting tephra deposits consist of 13 main layers grouped into four units. Each layer was characterized based on its dispersal direction, sedimentological features, and on the main characteristics of the juvenile fraction (texture, density, petrography, chemistry). The lowest part of the eruptive sequence (Unit I), corresponding to the tephra emitted between 4 and 5 June, is composed of alternating lapilli layers with a total estimated volume of ca. 0.75 km3; these layers record the highest intensity phase, during which a bent-over plume dispersed tephra towards the southeast-east, with negligible up-wind sedimentation. Products emitted during 5–6 June (Unit II) signaled an abrupt shift in wind direction towards the north, leading to the deposition of a coarse ash deposit in the northern sector (ca. 0.21 km3 in volume), followed by a resumption of easterly directed winds. A third phase (Unit III) began on 7 June and resulted in tephra deposits in the eastern sector and ballistic bombs around the vent area. A final phase (Unit IV) started after 15 June and was characterized by the emission of fine-grained white tephra from ash-charged plumes during low-level activity and the extrusion of a viscous lava flow. Timing and duration of the first eruptive phases were constrained based on comparison of the dispersal of the main tephra layers with satellite images, showing that most of the tephra was emitted during the first 72 h of the event. The analyzed juvenile material tightly clusters within the rhyolitic field, with negligible chemical variations through the eruptive sequence. Textural observations reveal that changes in eruption intensity (and consequently in magma ascent velocity within the conduit) and complex interactions between gas-rich and gas-depleted magma portions during ascent resulted in vesicular clasts with variable degrees of shear localization, and possibly in the large heterogeneity of the juvenile material.

International audience; The 2007 caldera-forming eruption of Piton de la Fournaise (PdF) erupted the largest volume of magma (210 Mm3) recorded at this volcano in at least three centuries. Major and trace element and Sr–Nd isotope data for bulk-rocks, groundmasses and olivine phenocrysts have been combined with melt inclusion data (major, trace and volatile elements) to track magma evolution over the whole eruptive sequence. We show that each eruptive phase had a distinctive geochemical and petrological signature and that caldera collapse on 5 April was preceded by a marked shift in bulk magma composition and crystal content and size. Aphyric basalt erupted at the beginning of the sequence (February 2007) had relatively high Sr isotope ratio (87Sr/86Sr = 0·70420–0·704180) and low Nd isotopic ratio (143Nd/144Nd = 0·51285–0·51286). Olivine-basalts extruded on 2–5 April just before caldera collapse are less enriched in radiogenic Sr (87Sr/86Sr = 0·70412–0·70416), but characterized by the same Nd isotopic composition. This magma is interpreted as a new deep input, which pressurized the shallow PdF plumbing system and triggered the 2007 activity. Post-collapse oceanite lavas represent the main volume of magma extruded in 2007. Their bulk-rocks and groundmasses have 87Sr/86Sr (∼0·70418) intermediate between those of February and 5 April, and similar to those of the March 2007 and 2001–2006 lavas. We show that the Steady State Basalts (SSB) commonly erupted at PdF are hybrid melts, which result from multistep mixing between ‘alkaline’ and ‘transitional’ end-members. Our results lead us to propose a new model of the PdF plumbing system to reconcile the petrological, geochemical and geophysical observations: (1) the shallow portion (above sea level) of the PdF plumbing system hosts several small sills, in which magma experiences variable degrees of degassing, cooling and crystallization; (2) oceanite lavas result from the withdrawal of shallow harrisitic mushes stored at low pressures (

On the basis of historical chronicles and field investigations the tephrostratigraphic sequence of post-1631 activity of Vesuvius is reconstructed. It has been established that, during this period, in addition to numerous totally effusive eruptions and/or normal strombolian activity, 16 explosive events produced well-traceable tephra deposits in the area outside the Mount Somma caldera. Ages of tephra beds were established on the basis of stratigraphic relationships with historical lava flows and comparison with chroniclers information. The dispersal and lithological characteristics of tephra deposits combined with description of explosive activity lead to the identification of three styles: (a) periods of violent strombolian activity; (b) violent strombolian eruptions; and (c) subplinian eruptions. Violent strombolian eruptions and periods of discrete activity are characterized by the formation of lapilli falls from eruptive columns only some kilometers high. Subplinian eruptions are defined on the basis of their lapilli fall volumes which is of the order of 107 m3, on eruptive column heights of approximately 10 km, bt higher than 1.5, and mass discharged rate values not lower than 106 kg/s. During the first century of activity after the 1631 eruption, two periods of violent strombolian activity occurred at Vesuvius (1682–1707 and 1707–1719) preceded, and followed, by a series of violent strombolian eruptions (1660, 1682, 1707, 1723, 1730, 1790, 1872). Between 1730 and 1779 a relevant change in the eruptive style of Vesuvius occurred by an increase in the explosivity of the eruptions. During the past two centuries of activity, only a few eruptions reached subplinian magnitude and only five eruptions had a phreatomagmatic phase (1779, 1794, 1822, 1906, 1944). Therefore, the previously accepted model of cyclic activity, in which each cycle is closed by an important explosive eruption with phreatomagmatic characteristics, is unfounded. The tephrostratigraphy of the 1906 eruption proposed in this work differs substantially from some previous reconstructions, on which the basis for the modeling of Vesuvius’ behavior in this time span was formed.

Six years after the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption, deep erosion incisions into the pyroclastic deposits accumulated around the volcano enabled us to investigate the stratigraphy of the climactic deposits both in valley bottoms and on contiguous ridges. Stratigraphic relationships between fall, flow, and surge deposits in the Marella drainage system indicate that during the climactic eruption a progressive shift occurred from an early convective regime, to a transitional regime feeding both the plinian convective column and mostly dilute density currents, to a fully collapsing regime producing mostly dense pyroclastic flows. Syn-plinian dilute density currents (surges) propagated up to ~10 km from the crater, both along valley bottoms and on contiguous ridges of the Marella Valley, whereas post-plinian pyroclastic flows had greater runout (~13 km), were confined to valleys and were not associated with significant surges. Stratigraphic study and grain-size analyses allow the identification of three types of intra-plinian deposits: (a) lower and often coarse-grained surge deposits, emplaced during the accumulation of the coarsest portion of the fallout bed at time intervals of ~16–24 min; (b) upper fine-grained surge deposits, interstratified with the fine-grained portion of the fall bed and emplaced at shorter time intervals of ~3–13 min; and (c) small-volume, channel-confined, massive pumiceous flow deposits interbedded with the upper surges in the upper fine-grained fall bed. Maximum clast size isopleths of 1.6 and 0.8 cm for lithics (ML) and 2.0 and 4.0 cm for pumices (MP) show almost symmetrical distribution around the vent, indicating that the passing of the typhoon Yunya during the climactic eruption had little effect on trajectories of high-Reynold-number clasts. Significant distortion was, however, observed for the 3.2-cm ML and 6.0-cm MP proximal isopleths, whose patterns were probably influenced by the interaction of the clasts falling from column margins with the uprising co-ignimbrite ash plumes. Application of the Carey and Sparks (1986) model to the undisturbed isopleths generated by the umbrella cloud yields a maximum column height of ~42 km, in good agreement with satellite measurements. Systematic stratigraphic and vertical grain-size studies of the plinian fall deposit in the Marella Valley, combined with satellite data and eyewitness accounts, reveal that the carrying capacity of the convective column and related fallout activity peaked in the early phase of the eruption, beginning slightly before 13:41 and gradually declined until its cessation 3 h later. Most of the pumiceous pyroclastic flow deposits were emplaced after the end of the fallout activity at ~16:30 but before the summit caldera collapse at approximately 19:11. Only a small volume of pumiceous flow deposits accumulated after the final caldera collapse. In contrast to the previous reconstruction of Holasek et al. (1996), which interpreted the progressive lowering of the column, documented by satellite data, as due to a decreasing mass eruption rate, we suggest that a progressive shift from a plinian column to a large co-ignimbrite column could also account for such a variation.

Correlation of the distal deposits of the Campanian Ignimbrite with their proximal equivalents in the Campi Flegrei caldera is complicated by a lack of medial exposures, complex and limited proximal stratigraphic sections, and large lateral facies changes. Paleomagnetic data from 10 sites in and near the Campi Flegrei yield natural remanent magnetizations (NRM) that are statistically indistinguishable from the distal Campanian Ignimbrite. In addition, their virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) yields a possible correlation with Lac du Bouchet, France, secular variation data that indicate an age of approximately 32,850 14 C years. The secular variation curve at this age was only briefly at this VGP, and did not return to it for >10,000 years, so the paleomagnetic correlation of proximal and distal deposits is unique and robust. The date is consistent with 14 C dates from the Campanian Ignimbrite, but younger than 39 Ar / 40 Ar dates for the same rocks. This suggests that a better correction factor for cosmic flux for this time period is needed to calibrate older 14 C dates. Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) data show that the proximal deposits have an oblate (disk-shaped), poorly lineated magnetic fabric. The distal deposits are much better lineated. The difference may be due to chaotic depositional currents in the proximal areas, in which particles were not well aligned. With greater distance of travel, and loss of energy, particles within the flow became aligned and developed stronger AMS lineations. Early eruptions of the Piperno Tuff were from a central vent north of Pozzuoli, whereas later tuffs that underlie the Breccia Museo may have been emplaced by flows associated with ring vents located on the northern and southern caldera margins.

Glass inclusions hosted by clinopyroxene and matrix glasses of pumices from the Plinian fall deposit associated with the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption were analysed in order to investigate processes that occurred at various stages of the magmatic evolution and to characterise the magma-withdrawal dynamics during the eruption. Petrographic, SEM–EDS, and electron microprobe analyses were performed on pumice samples, glass inclusions, and host minerals. Primary non-evolved glass inclusions were found both in homogeneous salite and in zoned diopside-salite clinopyroxenes. All the studied glasses are peralkaline alkali-trachytic in composition. The variation trends of glass inclusions and matrix glasses overlap for most elements except for alkalies and Cl. The least evolved compositions, however, are shown by glass inclusions found in salitic clinopyroxene at interfaces with diopside from the early erupted Plinian pumices (Lower Fall), whereas the most evolved compositions were found in the matrix glasses of the late-erupted Plinian pumices (Upper Fall). Excluding the most mafic glass inclusions, the observed compositional range is closely comparable to the range for ignimbrite juvenile clast compositions, indicating that the two eruptive phases drained the same magmatic reservoir. The compositional evolution of the Campanian Ignimbrite magmatic system seems to have resulted from different processes occurring at different stages: pre-eruptive magma mixing, due to an input of mafic magma into the reservoir, and crystal fractionation starting from different hybrid parental magmas to produce the most evolved compositions. These processes could have generated a vertically and laterally zoned magma chamber with multiple layers of variably hybrid magma extending from the input points of mafic magma. This type of zoning seems to better account for all the complex chemical and mineralogical characteristics of the Campanian Ignimbrite magmatic system, instead of a simple vertically zoned magmatic reservoir. A syn-eruptive mingling between the least evolved hybrid magmas and the most evolved melts characterised the first phase of Plinian eruption. This uncommon emptying of the magma chamber could be explained by the particular geometry of the reservoir.

Products of the Pomici di Base plinian eruption of Somma-Vesuvius consist of pumice and scoria fall deposits overlain by lithic-rich phreatomagmatic deposits. The plinian fall, which represents most of the magma volume involved in the eruption, ranges in composition from trachyte (SiO2 = 62.5 wt%) to latite (SiO2 ≈ 58 wt%) in the lower one-third of the deposit, whereas the upper two-thirds of the total thickness consists of latitic scoriae with fairly uniform composition (SiO2 ≈ 55–56 wt%). All the products have very low content of phenocrysts (from 4 wt% in trachyte pumice to 1 wt% in the latite scoriae), most of which are not in equilibrium with the host rock. Minerals not in equilibrium, both in trachytic and latitic rocks, consist of discrete crystals of sanidine and plagioclase wetted by trachytic glass and felsic aggregates with interstital trachytic glass. Trends of major and trace elements are consistent with crystal-liquid fractionation processes and rule out syn-eruptive mixing processes between latitic and trachytic magmas. We suggest that discrete crystals and crystal aggregates not in equilibrium with the host rock represent fragments of the crystallising boundary layer at the upper walls of the magma chamber, which were wrenched and admixed into the magma during the ascent. This process diversifies the mineral assemblage and increases the crystal content of the rocks. We propose that diffusive crystallization processes operating at the wall of the chamber allowed the formation of a two-fold layered reservoir with a more mafic, homogeneous lower body and a more evolved, compositionally graded upper body. Around one-quarter of crystals adhering to the upper part of the magma chamber were admixed into the magma during the eruption. The absence of significant syn-eruptive mixing processes and the major role played by diffusive crystallization are consistent with a low aspect ratio magma chamber (width/height

On October 17, 1891, a submarine eruption started at Foerstner volcano located within the Pantelleria Rift of the Strait of Sicily (Italy). Activity occurred for a period of 1 week from an eruptive vent located 4 km northwest of the island of Pantelleria at a water depth of 250 m. The eruption produced lava balloons that discharged gas at the surface and eventually sank to the seafloor. Remotely operated vehicle (ROV) video footage and high-resolution multi-beam mapping of the Foerstner vent site were used to create a geologic map of the AD 1891 deposits and conduct the first detailed study of the source area associated with this unusual type of submarine volcanism. The main Foerstner vent consists of two overlapping circular mounds with a total volume of 6.3x10(5) m(3) and relief of 60 m. It is dominantly constructed of clastic scoriaceous deposits with some interbedded pillow lavas. Petrographic and geochemical analyses of Foerstner samples by X-ray fluorescence and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry reveal that the majority of the deposits are vesicular, hypocrystalline basanite scoria that display porphyritic, hyaloophitic, and vitrophyric textures. An intact lava balloon recovered from the seafloor consists of a large interior gas cavity surrounded by a thin lava shell comprising two distinct layers: a thin, oxidized, quenched crust surrounding the exterior of the balloon and a dark gray, tachylite layer lying beneath it. Ostwald ripening is proposed to be the dominant bubble growth mechanism of four representative Foerstner scoria samples as inferred by vesicle size distributions. Characterization of the diversity of deposit facies observed at Foerstner in conjunction with quantitative rock texture analysis indicates that submarine Strombolian-like activity is the most likely mechanism for the formation of lava balloons. The deposit facies observed at the main Foerstner vent are very similar to those produced by other known submarine Strombolian eruptions (short pillow flow lobes, large scoriaceous clasts, spatter-like vent facies). Balloons were likely formed from the rapid cooling of extremely vesicular magma fragments as a result of a gas-rich frothy magma source. The exterior of these fragments hyperquenched forming a vesicular glassy shell that acted as an insulating layer preventing magmatic gas in its interior from escaping and thus allowing flotation as densities reached less than 1,000 kg/m(3). We believe that lava balloons are a common eruptive product, as the conditions required to generate these products are likely to be present in a variety of submarine volcanic environments. Additionally, the facies relationships observed at Foerstner may be used as a paleoenvironmental indicator for modern and ancient basaltic shallow submarine eruptions because of the relatively narrow depth range over which they likely occur (200-400 m).

Stromboli volcano (Southern Italy) is one of the most monitored volcano in the world with a surveillance network that includes a permanently sited ground-based SAR interferometer (GBInSAR). This work is the review of the GBInSAR data gained from the last decade of monitoring activity. The analysis of the entire dataset of GBInSAR measurements allowed the assessment of the deformation field of the northern part of the summit crater area and the Sciara del Fuoco depression. In detail, the main displacements recognized can be related to different factors: 1) the inflation/deflation respectively immediately before and after each new effusive event; 2) the bulging of localized sectors of the volcano involved in the vent opening; 3) the gravitational sliding of the Sciara del Fuoco infill; 4) the movement of lava flows. Accelerations in this sector are related to sheet intrusions, while the possibility of vent opening, associated with small sliding, or catastrophic flank failure are related to highly overpressurized sheets, able to produce high displacement rate in the Sciara del Fuoco. In the summit crater area, the increases in the displacement rate are related to the pressurization of the shallow conduit system, as the consequence of the variation in the magma level (magmastatic pressure) or to the lateral magma migration (lateral conduit expansion or dike intrusion) in response to the increase of the overpressure component. Fluctuations in the displacement rate in the summit crater area can be related to the magma overturning within the conduit, with the increases in displacement rate during the upwelling of less dense magma, while displacement rate decreases as the degassed magma column is pushed out from the conduit (lava flows or overflows). Instead, the decrease in the displacement rate without coeval lava outpouring could be related to the sink of the degassed magma due to density contrast between the gas-poor and the gas-charged magmas. Using the displacement rate in the summit crater area as a proxy for the variation in the pressure condition in conduit (both magmastatic and overpressure components), thresholds for the crises characterized by the occurrence of overflows (eventually associated with major explosions) and flank effusions (eventually associated with paroxysmal explosions) are identified. Small conduit overpressure will produce overflows (sometimes associated with crater-rim collapses), while large magma overpressure will laterally expand the conduit forming NE-SW striking sheets, feeding eruptive vents at the base of the summit crater area and within the Sciara del Fuoco, generating conditions of instability that can evolve into catastrophic collapse of the instable flank.

The 5 April 2003 eruption of Stromboli volcano (Italy) was the most violent of the past 50 years. It was also the best documented due to the accurate geophysical monitoring of the ongoing effusive eruption. Detailed field studies carried out a few hours to a few months after the event provided further information that were coupled with visual documentation to reconstruct the explosive dynamics. The eruption consisted of an 8-min-long explosive event preceded by a short-lived precursory activity that evolved into the impulsive ejection of gas and pyroclasts. Meter-sized ballistic blocks were launched to altitudes of up to 1400 m above the craters falling on the volcano flanks and on the village of Ginostra, about 2 km far from the vent. The vertical jet of gas and pyroclasts above the craters fed a convective plume that reached a height of 4 km. The calculated erupted mass yielded values of 1.1―1.4 × 10 8 kg. Later explosions generated a scoria flow deposit, with an estimated mass of 1.0―1.3 × 10 7 kg. Final, waning ash explosions closed the event. The juvenile fraction consisted of an almost aphyric, highly vesicular pumice mingled with a shallow-derived, crystal-rich, moderately vesicular scoria. Resuming of the lava emission a few hours after the paroxysm indicate that the shallow magmatic system was not significantly modified during the explosions. Combination of volume data with duration of eruptive phases allowed us to estimate the eruptive intensity: during the climactic explosive event, the mass discharge rate was between 10 6 and 10 7 kg/s, whereas during the pyroclastic flow activity, it was 2.8―3.6 ― 10 5 kg/s. Strong similarities with other historical paroxysms at Stromboli suggest similar explosion dynamics.

The 2002―2003 eruptive emergency of Stromboli was the most dangerous to have occurred on the island in the past three centuries. Starting from 30 December, the national Department of Civil Protection (DCP), operating under the direct authority of the prime minister, took responsibility for the emergency management. One of the most relevant achievements was the setting up, on the island, of Centro Operativo Avanzato, a permanent scientific/civil protection structure where signals of volcano monitoring are visualized in real time and eventually used by the personnel of the DCP for immediate reactions. Volcanic risk was also structurally reduced by the construction of a new pier to facilitate rapid evacuation of Ginostra village and the planning and implementation of new walking trails and shelters at the top of the mountain. The shelters, six in total, of moderate size, were designed to resist the impact of heavy materials launched by the volcano. The risk mitigation initiatives were completed with the installation of alarm sirens in the two villages, the production and distribution of leaflets, and also by the installation of signs indicating the fastest routes to reach safe waiting areas in case of tsunami. Besides the substantial improvements in the preparedness of the Civil Protection and Stromboli's community to respond effectively to possible future emergencies of the volcano, one of the most important heritages was the elaboration and testing of new protocols and procedures concerning the handling of volcanic emergencies. Although the issues raised during the crisis showed similarities with other volcanic crisis around the world, the role played by the Civil Protection with personnel specifically trained in volcanic problems showed comparatively considerable advantages.

Stromboli is a 3000-m-high island-arc volcano rising to 900 m above sea level. It is the most active volcano of the Aeolian archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy). In the last 13 ka, four large-volume (1-km 3 ) flank collapses have shaped the northwestern flank [Sciara del Fuoco (SdF)] of the volcano with the potential to cause hazardous tsunamis. In addition, smaller volume, more frequent partial collapses of the SdF have been shown to be tsunami-generating events. One such partial collapse occurred on 30 December 2002. The resulting landslide generated a 10-m-high tsunami that impacted the island. Multibeam bathymetry, side-scan sonar, and seabed visual observations reveal that 25―30 x 10 6 m 3 of sediments were deposited on the offshore from the SdF landslide. Samples have led to the recognition of a proximal coarse-grained landslide deposit on the volcano slope and a distal, cogenetic, sandy turbidite 24 km from the Stromboli shoreline. The proximal landslide deposit consists of two contiguous facies: (1) a chaotic, coarse-grained deposit and (2) a sand facies that develops laterally with and over the coarse-grained deposits. Distally, a capping 2- to 3-cm-thick sand layer, not present in a prelandslide September 2002 core, represents the finer-grained turbidite equivalent to the proximal deposits. Characteristics of the SdF landslide deposits suggest that they derive from cohesionless, sandy matrix density flows. A range of density flow transitions, based principally on particle concentration and grain-size partitioning of cohesionless parent flows, can be identified in the proximal and distal deposits of this relatively small-scale landslide event on Stromboli.

Cotopaxi volcano is situated in the Eastern Cordillera of the Ecuadorian Andes and consists of a symmetric volcanic cone that reaches an altitude of 5,897 m above sea level; it is capped over its upper 1,000 m by a permanent glacier. The volcano has erupted frequently in the past few centuries and, according to the archival records, has produced dozens of lahars by catastrophic snow and ice melting during eruptions. In this work, we present a detailed map and a stratigraphic study of the lahar deposits of the past 800 years in two different topographic settings. A thorough knowledge of the tephrostratigraphy of the explosive activity over the same time period was a first-order pre-requisite for the complete reconstruction and dating of lahar activity and also allowed us to precisely link lahar units to eruptive phases of individual eruptions. Results indicate that, during the thirteenth to seventeenth centuries, high-intensity eruptions (Plinian events or blast-like explosions) produced large debris flows that transported meter-sized boulders. A subsequent period of activity that started in 1742 was characterized by several lahar-generating eruptive episodes that were smaller in scale but with significant variability in size (the 1877 being the smallest and most recent). Analysis of events occurring in the eighteenth century suggests that eruption style affects the volume and energy of the resulting lahars, with different pyroclastic flow types causing different mechanisms of water release from the summit glacier. Lahars produced during this time period were triggered by: (1) dilute pumice and ash-rich radially distributed density currents and (2) column collapse-related radially distributed scoria and lithic-rich pyroclastic-flows. The former produced lahar deposits that are matrix-rich, block-poor, and valley-confined, while the high erosive capacity of the latter produced lahars that are block-rich, highly energetic, and widespread. The youngest (1853 and 1877) lahars were triggered by (3) confined scoria-flow lobes that had less capacity to scour and melt the glacier; resulting flows had lower energy and smaller volumes than lahars produced by eighteenth-century eruptions. We conclude that the dynamics of pyroclastic–density–current can exert a major control on the size and destructive capacity of lahar at ice-capped volcanoes. Moreover, the total extent of the glacier at the moment of eruption, which is commonly considered to exert a major control on lahar formation, may actually be a second-order factor compared with the way in which the eruptive products interact with the glacier.

The distribution of clasts deposited around a volcano during an explosive eruption typically contoured by isopleth maps provides important insights into the associated plume height, wind speed and eruptive style. Nonetheless, a wide range of strategies exists to determine the largest clasts, which can lead to very different results with obvious implications for the characterization of eruptive behaviour of active volcanoes. The IAVCEI Commission on Tephra Hazard Modelling has carried out a dedicated exercise to assess the influence of various strategies on the determination of the largest clasts. Suggestions on the selection of sampling area, collection strategy, choice of clast typologies and clast characterization (i.e. axis measurement and averaging technique) are given, mostly based on a thorough investigation of two outcrops of a Plinian tephra deposit from Cotopaxi volcano (Ecuador) located at different distances from the vent. These include: (1) sampling on a flat paleotopography far from significant slopes to minimize remobilization effects; (2) sampling on specified-horizontal-area sections (with the statistically representative sampling area depending on the outcrop grain size and lithic content); (3) clast characterization based on the geometric mean of its three orthogonal axes with the approximation of the minimum ellipsoid (lithic fragments are better than pumice clasts when present); and (4) use of the method of the 50th percentile of a sample of 20 clasts as the best way to assess the largest clasts. It is also suggested that all data collected for the construction of isopleth maps be made available to the community through the use of a standardized data collection template, to assess the applicability of the new proposed strategy on a large number of deposits and to build a large dataset for the future development and refinement of dispersal models.

Cotopaxi, the highest active volcano on earth and one of the most dangerous of Ecuador is constituted by a composite cone made up of lava and tephra erupted from the summit crater. The activity of the present volcano begun with large-volume plinian eruptions followed by a succession of small-volume lava emissions and pyroclastic episodes which led to the edification of a symmetrical cone. The growth of the cone was broken by an episode of slope failure, the scar of which is now obliterated by recent and historical products. Volcanic history, eruptive frequency and characteristics of the activity were investigated by studying the stratigraphy of tephra and carrying out fifteen new 14 C dating on paleosols and charcoals. The investigated period is comprised between the slope failure and the present. The deposit of the volcanic landside (dry debris avalanche of Rio Pita), previously believed to be between 13,000 and 25,000 yr B.P., is now considered to have an age slightly older than 5000 yr B.P. The stratigraphy of tephra of the last 2000 years reveals the existence of 22 fallout layers. Seven of them were dated with 14 C whereas three were ascribed to the eruptions of 1534, 1768 and 1877 on the basis of comparison with historical information. Maximum clast size distribution (isopleths) of 9 tephra layers points out that the sustained explosive eruptions of Cotopaxi during the last 2000 years are characterized by very high dispersive power (plinian plumes with column heights between 28 and 39 km) and high intensity (peak mass discharges from 1.1 to 4.1 × 10 8 kg/s). The magnitude (mass) of tephra fallout deposits calculated from distribution of thickness (isopaches) are, however, moderate (from 0.8 to 7.2 × 10 11 kg). The limited volume of magma erupted during each explosive episode is consistent with the lack of caldera collapses. Small-volume pyroclastic flows and surges virtually accompanied all identified tephra fallouts. During such an activity large scale snow/ice melting of the summit glacier produced devastating mudflows comparable in scale to those of 1877 eruption. By assuming a 1:1 correspondence between fallout episodes and generation of large-scale lahar, we have estimated an average recurrence of one explosive, lahartriggering event every 117 years over the last two millennia. This value compares well with that calculated by considering the period since Spanish Conquest. The probability of having an eruption like this in 100 or 200 years is respectively of 0.57 and 0.82. Such an high probability underscores the need for quick actions aimed at the mitigation of Cotopaxi lahar hazard along all the main valleys which originate from the volcano.

Volcanic activity at Phlegraean Fields, Italy, produced several major marker tephras over a 50 ka period. The caldera forming eruptions of the Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) and Neapolitan Yellow Tuff (NYT) are of particular importance for tephrostratigraphy in Europe. Other key eruptions from this source include the Pomici Principali (PP) and the Tufi Biancastri eruptions. We combine analyses of fresh glasses from proximal locations (i.e., juvenile clasts in proximal flow and fall deposits) with data for key tephra layers from Lago Grande di Monticchio, 120 km to the east. The micron-beam major (EMPA) and trace (LA-ICP-MS) element glass dataset allows us to: (a) distinguish between tephra units produced from the Phlegraean Fields before and during the CI eruption (CI-series), and before and during the NYT and PP eruptions (NYT-series/PP); (b) discriminate between the CI and the geochemically similar Pre-CI pyroclastic deposits; (c) separate the NYT from Pre-NYT tephra units, although both major and trace elements do show significant overlap. The complex compositional overlap between Pre-NYT tephras may present a problem for tephra correlations in the 14–39 ka time window and may have resulted in incorrect proximal–distal and distal–distal correlations. The diagnostic chemical criteria detailed herein permits more accurate matching of distal tephras with their proximal equivalents and hence will improve chronostratigraphy of distal settings and give insight into tephra dispersal. We show that the dispersal of PP tephra was more limited than previously thought. The surge/fall (Lower Member) and subsequent pyroclastic density current (Upper Member) phases of the NYT eruption can be recognised in distal settings. Both the NYT Lower and Upper Members are found in distal localities to the east of the Phlegraean Fields, however the Lower Member is found in the absence of the Upper Member in locations to the far north of Phlegraean Fields. Chemical compositions of the Plinian and ignimbrite phases of the CI eruption overlap extensively, but can be distinguished on a plot of Zr–Th.

[1] Samples of scoriae erupted at Stromboli volcano during its persistent strombolian activity were collected between 2005 and 2008. Chemical and mineralogical compositions were obtained on products erupted from the three main crater sectors (SW, Central and NE). Small chemical variations indicate a different degree of evolution coupled with small difference of magma temperature

Basaltic volcanoes are dominated by lava emission and mild explosive activity. Nevertheless, many basaltic systems exhibit, from time to time, poorly documented and little-understood violent explosions. A short-lived, multiblast explosive crisis (paroxysmal explosion) occurred on 15 March 2007 during an effusive eruptive crisis at Stromboli (Italy). The explosive crisis, which started at 20:38:14 UT, had a total duration of ∼5 min. The combined use of multiparametric data collected by the permanent instrumental networks (seismic, acoustic, and thermal records) and a field survey carried out immediately after the event enabled us to constrain the eruptive dynamics and quantify physical parameters. The eruption consisted of three major pulses: In the first, lithic blocks and ash were ejected at speeds of 100–155 m/s and 130–210 m/s, respectively. The high solid load of the eruptive jet resulted in the partial collapse of the column with the formation of a small-volume pyroclastic density current. The second, 12 s long pulse emitted 2.2–2.7 × 107 kg of tephra (mass discharge rate = 1.9–2.3 × 106 kg/s), forming a 3 km high convective plume, dispersing tephra up to the west coast, and a dilute density current with limited dispersal downslope of the craters. A final, 30 s long phase formed a scoria flow with a volume of 1.5–1.7 × 104 m3 (mass discharge rate = 5.9–6.7 × 105 kg/s), a total runout of ∼200 m, and a velocity of 45 m/s. The total gas volume involved in the explosion was 1.3–1.9 × 104 m3 with an initial overpressure of 7.9 ± 0.4 MPa. We compared the 15 March 2007 event with historical paroxysms, in particular with that of 5 April 2003, which was remarkably similar.

The eruption of 1631 A.D. was the most violent and destructive event in the recent history of Vesuvius. More than fifty primary documents, written in either Italian or Latin, were critically examined, with preference given to the authors who eyewitnessed volcanic phenomena. The eruption started at 7 a.m. on December 16 with the formation of an eruptive column and was followed by block and lapilli fallout east and northeast of the volcano until 6 p.m. of the same day. At 10 a.m. on December 17, several nuees ardentes were observed to issue from the central crater, rapidly descending the flanks of the cone and devastating the villages at the foot of Vesuvius. In the night between the 16th and 17th and on the afternoon of the 17th, extensive lahars and floods, resulting from rainstorms, struck the radial valleys of the volcano as well as the plain north and northeast. Deposits of the eruption were identified in about 70 localities on top of an ubiquitous paleosol formed during a long preeruptive volcanic quiescence. The main tephra unit consists of a plinian fallout composed of moderately vesicular dark green lapilli, crystals and lithics. Isopachs of the fallout are elongated eastwards and permit a conservative volume calculation of 0.07 km 3 . The peak mass flux deduced from clast dispersal models is estimated in the range 3–6 × 10 7 kg/s, corresponding to a column height of 17–21 km. East of the volcano the plinian fallout is overlain by ash-rich low-grade ignimbrite, surges, phreatomagmatic ashes and mud flows. Ash flows occur in paleovalleys around the cone of Vesuvius but are lacking on the Somma side, suggesting that pyroclastic flows had not enough energy to overpass the caldera wall of Mt. Somma. Deposits are generally unconsolidated, massive with virtually no ground layer and occasionally bearing sparse rests of charred vegetation. Past interpretations of the products emitted on the morning of December 17 as lava flows are inconsistent with both field observations and historical data. Features of the final phreatomagmatic ashes are suggestive of alternating episodes of wet ash fallout and rainfalls. Lahars interfingered with primary ash fallout confirm episodes of massive remobilization of loose tephra by heavy rainfalls during the final stage of the eruption. Chemical analyses of scoria clasts suggest tapping of magma from a compositionally zoned reservoir. Leucite-bearing, tephritic-phonolite (SiO 2 51.17%) erupted in the early plinian phase was in fact followed by darker and slightly more mafic magma richer in crystals (SiO 2 49.36%). During the nuees ardentes phase the composition returned to that of the early phase of the eruption. The reconstruction of the 1631 eruptive scenario supplies new perspectives on the hazards related to plinian eruptions of Vesuvius.

The caldera of Pululagua is an eruptive centre of the Northern Volcanic Zone of the South American volcanic arc, located about 15 km north of Quito, Ecuador. Activity leading to formation of the caldera occurred about 2450 b.p. as a series of volcanic episodes during which an estimated 5–6 km3 (DRE) of hornblende-bearing dacitic magma was erupted. A basal pumice-fall deposit covers more than 2.2x104 km2 with a volume of about 1.1 km3 and represents the principal and best-preserved plinian layer. Circular patterns of isopachs and pumice, lithic and Md isopleths of the Basal Fallout (BF) around the caldera indicate emplacement in wind-free conditions. Absence of wind is confirmed by an ubiquitous, normally graded, thin ash bed at the top of the lapilli layer which originated from slow settling of fines after cessation of the plinian column (co-plinian ash). The unusual atmospheric conditions during deposition make the BF deposit particularly suitable for the application and evaluation of pyroclast dispersal models. Application of the Carey and Sparks' (1986) model shows that whereas the 3.2-, 1.6-, and 0.8-cm lithic isopleths predict a model column height of about 36 km, the 6.4-cm isopleth yields and estimate of only 21 km. The 4.9- and 6.4-cm isopleths yield a column height of 28 km using the model of Wilson and Walker (1987). The two models give the same mass discharge rate of 2x108 kg s-1. A simple exponential decrease of thickness with distance, as proposed by Pyle (1989) for plinian falls, fits well with the BF. Exponential decrease of size with distance is followed by clasts less than about 3 cm, suggesting, in agreement with Wilson and Walker (1987), that only a small proportion of large clasts reach the top of the column. Variations with distance in clast distribution patterns imply that, in order to obtain column heights by clast dispersal models, the distribution should be known from both proximal and distal zones. Knowledge of only a few isopleths, irrespective of their distance from the vent, is not sufficient as seemed justified by the method of Pyle (1989).

The birth of Paricutin Volcano, Mexico, in 1943 provides an unprecedented opportunity to document the development of a monogenetic cinder cone and its associated lava flows and tephra blanket. Three ‘type’ sections provide a complete tephra record for the eruption, which is placed in a temporal framework by comparing both bulk tephra and olivine phenocryst compositions to dated samples of lava and tephra. Our data support the hypothesis of Luhr (2001) that the first four months of activity were fed by a magma batch (Phase 1) that was distinct from the magma that supplied the subsequent eight years of activity. We further suggest that the earliest erupted (vanguard) magma records evidence of temporary residence at shallow levels prior to eruption, suggesting early development of a dike and sill complex beneath the vent. Depletion of this early batch led to diminished eruptive activity in June and July of 1943, while arrival of the second magma batch (Phase 2) reinvigorated activity in late July. Phase 2 fed explosive activity from mid-1943 through 1946, although most of the tephra was deposited by the end of 1945. Phase 3 of the eruption began in mid-1947 with rapid evolution of magma compositions from basaltic andesite to andesite and dominance of lava effusion. The combined physical and chemical characteristics of the erupted material present a new interpretation of the physical conditions that led to compositional evolution of the magma. We believe that syn-eruptive assimilation of wall rock in a shallow complex of dikes and sills is more likely than pre-eruptive assimilation within a large magma chamber, as previously assumed. We further suggest that waning rates of magma supply from the deep feeder system allowed evolved, shallowly stored magma to enter the conduit in 1947, thus triggering the rapid observed change in the erupted magma composition. This physical model predicts that assimilation should be observable in other monogenetic eruptions, particularly those with low pressure melt inclusions and with eruption durations of months to years.

Observations on phreatomagmatic ash deposits of Phlegraean Fields and Vesuvius supply evidence for the origin of vesiculated tuff in a cool environment. Early deposition by fallout of a matrix-free bed of damp accretionary lapilli is followed by deposition of cohesive mud or a mud rain. The lapilli bed becomes partly or completely transformed into a vesiculated tuff by mud percolation and eventual coalescence of accretionary lapilli with consequent trapping of air originally contained in the interstices. The proposed mechanism accounts for vesiculated tuff formation in distal deposits beyond limits commonly attained by pyroclastic surges. This same mechanism may, nevertheless, also operate in proximal tuff-ring and cone deposits during fallout of phreatomagmatic ash separating bed sets in surge-dominated successions. The sequence of events in the proposed model fits well with the evolution of a cooling phreatomagmatic ash cloud in which early ash aggregation (accretionary lapilli fallout) is followed closely by steam condensation (mud or muddy rainfall). This new model invoking a cool-temperature origin is intended to be complementary to previously proposed theories. Although difficult to assess because of the often complete obliteration of original lapilli, the process is believed to be relatively common in the generasion of vesiculated tuffs within phreatomagmatic deposits.

The active crater of Guagua Pichincha volcano is located only about 10 km west of Quito, the capital city of Ecuador. Archeological and historical records confirm that, in the last few millennia, human communities were repeatedly affected by volcanic eruptions in this region. Tephrostratigraphic studies and 14 C datings indicate that the eruptive history of Pichincha in the last 40,000 years has been characterized mostly be explosive eruptions with an average frequency of one event every few centuries. These eruptions produced relatively small volumes of dacitic pumice fallout and pyroclastic surge and flow. Eruptions of the last 10,000 years has also included lava dome growth and lateral blasts by dome explosions. Based upon the history of the volcano, the explosive eruptions of 970 and 1660 A.D. were selected as those representing, in the case of reactivation, the maximum phenomena to be expected. The eruption behaviour (ash fallout and pyroclastic surge) has been simulated by physical-numerical models on digitized topographic map, and the results have been used to evaluate the harzardous areas.

At 1820 UT of 28 December 2002, an eruptive vent opened on the NE flank of the Sciara del Fuoco (SdF) at 600 m above sea level, marking the onset of the 2002–2003 eruptive crisis of Stromboli volcano. The first eruptive hours were characterized by mild spattering and effusive activity from the new vent and the summit vent at crater 1. Gravitational instability processes also determined the partial collapse of NE walls of the summit cone (crater 1). Pyroclastic material partly accumulated on the NE part of the SdF and partly flowed downslope and reached the sea at Spiaggia dei Gabbiani, forming a ~4-m-thick, reddish avalanche, that was soon covered by a lava flow emitted in the following hours. In this paper, we describe the first hours of activity through eyewitnesses’ reports, geophysical monitoring, field and laboratory studies, of the erupted pyroclastic material and lava flows. Daily temperature measurements were carried out on the avalanche deposit formed by the flow of scoria along the SdF, using a handheld thermal camera mainly during helicopter surveys. A fast cooling rate was typical of the deposit surface, and a slow cooling rate was representative of its inner portion.

Violent Strombolian is a term that was originally used by MacDonald [Macdonald, G.A., 1972. Volcanoes, Prentice-Hall inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 510 pp.] to describe energetic Strombolian eruptions such as some of the more explosive phases of the 1943–1952 eruption of Parícutin Volcano (Michoacán, central Mexico), eruptions that disperse ‘showers of incandescent cinder and bombs…to heights of a few thousand feet' and during which ‘a great black ash cloud rises above the volcano'. Here we re-examine accounts of the Parícutin eruption and compare them with new stratigraphic data and physical features of the tephra deposit to improve the definition of violent Strombolian activity and to better elucidate the mechanisms that can cause this distinctive eruptive style. We find characteristic violent Strombolian activity to be strongly pulsatory, with production of moderately high eruption columns (2–6 km) that eject abundant fine ash. Also characteristic is simultaneous lava effusion from lateral vents. At Parícutin, violent Strombolian activity occurred at magma eruption rates of 104 to 105 kg/s, intermediate between Strombolian and subplinian rates. A progressive decline in magma flux during the eruption led to a decrease in the relative proportion of both erupted tephra and glassy vesicular fragments in the fallout layers. Eruption characteristics can be explained by varying degrees of shallow gas segregation from water-rich basaltic magma that modulate both transitions between two-phase flow regimes in the upper conduit and effusion of degassed lava from the base of the cone.

Stromboli is a 3000 m high island volcano, rising to 900 m above sea-level. It is the most active volcano of the Aeolian Archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy). Major, large volume (1 km 3 ) sector collapses, four occurring in the last 13 kyr, have played an important role in shaping the north-western flank (Sciara del Fuoco) of the volcano, potentially generating a high-risk tsunami hazard for the Aeolian Islands and the Italian coast. However, smaller volume, partial collapses of the Sciara del Fuoco have been shown to be more frequent tsunami-generating events. One such event occurred on 30 December 2002, when a partial collapse of the north-western flank of the island took place. The resulting landslide generated 10 m high tsunami waves that impacted the island. Multibeam bathymetry, side-scan sonar imaging and visual observations reveal that the landslide deposited 25 to 30 · 10 6 m 3 of sediment on the submerged slope offshore from the Sciara del Fuoco. Two contiguous main deposit facies are recognized: (i) a chaotic, coarse-grained (metre-sized to centimetre-sized clasts) deposit; and (ii) a sand deposit containing a lower, cross-bedded sand layer and an upper structureless pebbly sand bed capped by sea floor ripple bedforms. The sand facies develops adjacent to and partially overlying the coarse deposits. Characteristics of the deposits suggest that they were derived from cohesionless, sandy matrix density flows. Flow rheology and dynamics led to the segregation of the density flow into sand-rich and clast-rich regions. A range of density flow transitions, both in space and in time, caused principally by particle concentration and grain-size partitioning within cohesionless parent flows was identified in the deposits of this relatively small-scale submarine landslide event.

Numerical simulation of pyroclastic density currents has developed significantly in recent years and is increasingly applied to volcanological research. Results from physical modeling are commonly taken into account in volcanic hazard assessment and in the definition of hazard mitigation strategies. In this work, we modeled pyroclastic density currents in the Phlegrean Fields caldera, where flows propagating along the flat ground could be confined by the old crater rims that separate downtown Naples from the caldera. The different eruptive scenarios (mass eruption rates, magma compositions, and water contents) were based on available knowledge of this volcanic system, and appropriate vent conditions were calculated for each scenario. Simulations were performed along different topographic profiles to evaluate the effects of topographic barriers on flow propagation. Simulations highlighted interesting features associated with the presence of obstacles such as the development of backflows. Complex interaction between outward moving fronts and backflows can affect flow propagation; if backflows reach the vent, they can even interfere with fountain dynamics and induce a more collapsing behavior. Results show that in the case of large events (≥108 kg/s), obstacles affect flow propagation by reducing flow velocity and hence dynamic pressure in distal regions, but they cannot stop the advancement of flows. Deadly conditions (in terms of temperature and ash concentration) characterize the entire region invaded by pyroclastic flows. In the case of small events (2.5 × 107 kg/s), flows are confined by distal topographic barriers which provide valuable protection to the region beyond.

Microfabrication techniques were combined with fractal algorithms to realize polymeric scaffolds resembling capillary networks. The scaffolds were seeded with human endothelial cells in monoculture as well as in coculture with human fibroblasts. To enhance the process of angiogenesis, endothelial cells were transfected with an adenoviral vector carrying the gene for human tissue kallikrien. The results demonstrate that both the presence of a structured scaffold as well as fibroblasts in coculture contribute synergically to the promotion of a metabolically active network. The fractal scaffolds have several possible applications for example in vascularized tissue engineering and therapeutic angiogenesis. A broader implication of these results is that cell-extra cellular matrix and cell-cell interactions cooperate dynamically both at a biochemical as well as microstructural level.

[1] Knowledge of past precursor patterns is crucial for the correct interpretation of monitoring data and reliable volcano forecasting. In the case of Vesuvius, one of the world's riskiest volcanoes, very little information is available about unrest signals following long periods of quiescence. The translation and analysis of three Latin treatises written from eye-witnesses immediately after the A.D. 1631 subplinian eruption allowed us to reconstruct the sequence of precursors. The progression in the signals was remarkably clear starting at least two to three weeks before the event. Widespread gas emission from the ground coupled with deformation was followed by an increase in seismic activity in the eight days before the eruption. Seismicity escalated both in frequency and intensity in the night before the eruption, heralding the opening of fissures on the volcanic cone. The details of phenomena occurring in the medium-term (months before the eruption) are difficult to evaluate, though it is worth noticing that no major tectonic earthquakes were felt in the area of the volcano. Civil protection preparedness plans should be organized in order to complete the evacuation of people in a time span significantly shorter than the duration of expected short-term precursors.

Citlaltepetl (Pico de Orizaba) is Mexico's highest (5675 m a.s.l.) potentially active volcano, which is presently in a dormant state. Between 9.0 and 8.5 ky B.P., a sequence of volcanic eruptions occurred at Citlaltepetl volcano as part of the most explosive Holocene episode. This sequence is associated with the deposition of an intercalation of pumice fallout and scoria and pumice-rich pyroclastic flow deposits, named here as “Citlaltepetl Pumice” (C.P.). Detailed stratigraphic and petrographic correlation of over 100 measured sections, in conjunction with the analysis of the physical characteristics of the juvenile and lithic portions of each main layer of the sequence, provided the basis to reconstruct the eruptive episodes and to assert the eruptive dynamics of the whole sequence, which was divided into eight main eruptions separated by three brief periods of quiescence. The eruption sequence started with a phreatic phase that soon developed into a bread-crusted, bomb-bearing phase. This was followed by a sequence of vigorous Plinian explosive eruptions separated by brief periods of repose and a short dome-collapse activity. It was followed by another cycle of alternated scoria pyroclastic flows-forming and Plinian activity. This eruptive sequence shows the complexity of single eruptive events with alternated contrasting styles suggested by the compositional differences between the pyroclastic flow and fallout products.

International audience; The recent eruptive history of the Vulcano island (Southern Italy) was investigated through the high-accuracy “large sample” archeomagnetic method (Tanguy, J.C., Le Goff, M., Principe, C., Arrighi, S., Chillemi, V., Paiotti, A., La Delfa, S., Patanè, G., 2003. Archeomagnetic dating of Mediterranean volcanics of the last 2100 years: validity and limits. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 211, 111–124; Tanguy, J.C., Principe, C., Arrighi, S., 2005. Comment on “Historical measurements of the Earth's magnetic field compared with remanence directions from lava flows in Italy over the last four centuries” by R. Lanza, A. Meloni, and E. Tema. Phys. Earth Planet. Interiors 152, 116–120; Arrighi, S., 2004. The large sample archeomagnetic method applied to Neapolitan volcanoes and Aeolian Islands. PhD Thesis. University of Pisa, Italy, pp. 1–186). Age determination is based upon directional geomagnetic variation reconstructed from historically dated lavas in Southern Italy, and from archeological sites in Western Europe (Gallet, Y., Genevey, A., Le Goff, M., 2002. Three millennia of directional variation of the Earth's magnetic field in Western Europe as revealed by archeological artefacts. Phys. Earth Planet. Interiors 131, 81–89) relocated to Sicily. Results in the present paper were obtained on 12 sites including 185 samples weighing 0.5–1 kg, distributed over the Vulcanello platform lavas and pyroclastic cones, and on the lava flows from the Fossa cone. It is shown that the Vulcanello platform was built by nearly continuous activity between AD 1000 and 1250, which is more than a millennium younger than believed until now from questionable interpretation of imprecise historical accounts. Most of the lavas from the Fossa cone, whose ages were rather hypothetical or known with a large uncertainty, have erupted within the same period. However, the last “Pietre Cotte” obsidian flow is confirmed to date from 1720 ± 30, in agreement with historical data (1739).

Vulcanian eruptions are common at many volcanoes around the world. Vulcanian activity occurs as either isolated sequences of eruptions or as precursors to sustained explosive events and is interpreted as clearing of shallow plugs from volcanic conduits. Breadcrust bombs characteristic of Vulcanian eruptions represent samples of different parts of these plugs and preserve information that can be used to infer parameters of pre-eruption magma ascent. The morphology and preserved volatile contents of breadcrust bombs erupted in 1999 from Guagua Pichincha volcano, Ecuador, thus allow us to constrain the physical processes responsible for Vulcanian eruption sequences of this volcano. Morphologically, breadcrust bombs differ in the thickness of glassy surface rinds and in the orientation and density of crack networks. Thick rinds fracture to create deep, widely spaced cracks that form large rectangular domains of surface crust. In contrast, thin rinds form polygonal networks of closely spaced shallow cracks. Rind thickness, in turn, is inversely correlated with matrix glass water content in the rind. Assuming that all rinds cooled at the same rate, this correlation suggests increasing bubble nucleation delay times with decreasing pre-fragmentation water content of the melt. A critical bubble nucleation threshold of 0.4–0.9 wt% water exists, below which bubble nucleation does not occur and resultant bombs are dense. At pre-fragmentation melt H2O contents of >∼0.9 wt%, only glassy rinds are dense and bomb interiors vesiculate after fragmentation. For matrix glass H2O contents of ≥1.4 wt%, rinds are thin and vesicular instead of thick and non-vesicular. A maximum measured H2O content of 3.1 wt% establishes the maximum pressure (63 MPa) and depth (2.5 km) of magma that may have been tapped during a single eruptive event. More common H2O contents of ≤1.5 wt% suggest that most eruptions involved evacuation of ≤1.5 km of the conduit. As we expect that substantial overpressures existed in the conduit prior to eruption, these depth estimates based on magmastatic pressure are maxima. Moreover, the presence of measurable CO2 (≤17 ppm) in quenched glass of highly degassed magma is inconsistent with simple models of either open- or closed-system degassing, and leads us instead to suggest re-equilibration of the melt with gas derived from a deeper magmatic source. Together, these observations suggest a model for the repeated Vulcanian eruptions that includes (1) evacuation of the shallow conduit during an individual eruption, (2) depressurization of magma remaining in the conduit accompanied by open-system degassing through permeable bubble networks, (3) rapid conduit re-filling, and (4) dome formation prior to the subsequent explosion. An important part of this process is densification of upper conduit magma to allow repressurization between explosions. At a critical overpressure, trapped pressurized gas fragments the nascent impermeable cap to repeat the process.

The Monte Nuovo eruption is the most recent event that occurred at Phlegrean Fields (Italy) and lasted from 29 September to 6 October 1538. It was characterized by 2 days of quasi-sustained phreatomagmatic activity generating pumice-bearing pyroclastic density currents and forming a 130-m-high tuff cone (Lower Member deposits). The activity resumed after a pause of 2 days with two discrete Vulcanian explosions that emplaced radially distributed, scoria-bearing pyroclastic flows (Upper Member deposits). The juvenile products of Lower and Upper Members are, respectively, phenocryst-poor, light-coloured pumice and dark scoria fragments with K-phonolitic bulk compositions, identical in terms of both major and trace elements. Groundmass is formed by variable proportions of K-feldspar and glass, along with minor sodalite and Fe-Ti oxide present in the most crystallized samples. Investigations of groundmass compositions and textures were performed to assess the mechanisms of magma ascent, degassing and fragmentation along the conduit and implications for the eruptive dynamics. In pumice of the Lower Member groundmass crystal content increases from 13 to 28 vol% from the base to the top of the sequence. Products of the Upper Member consist of clasts with a groundmass crystal content between 30 and 40 vol% and of totally crystallized fragments. Crystal size distributions of groundmass feldspars shift from a single population at the base of the Lower Member to a double population in the remaining part of the sequence. The average size of both populations regularly increases from the Lower to the Upper Member. Crystal number density increases by two orders of magnitude from the Lower to the Upper Member, suggesting that nucleation dominated during the second phase of the eruption. The overall morphological, compositional and textural data suggest that the juvenile components of the Monte Nuovo eruption are likely to record variations of the magma properties within the conduit. The different textures of pumice clasts from the Lower Member possibly reflect horizontal gradients of the physical properties (P, T) of the ascending magma column, while scoriae from the second phase are thought to result from the disruption of a slowly rising plug crystallizing in response to degassing. In particular, crystal size distribution data point to syn-eruptive degassing-induced crystallization as responsible for the transition in eruptive style from the first to the second phase of the eruption. This mechanism not only has been proved to profoundly affect the dynamics of dome-forming calc-alkaline eruptions, but may also have a strong influence in driving the eruption dynamics of alkaline magmas of intermediate to evolved compositions.

[1] The 5 April 2003 paroxysm of Stromboli occurred during an ongoing effusive episode that initiated on 28 December 2002. It mainly consisted in two, a few seconds apart cannon-like explosions followed by a vertical gas/pyroclast jet. The HK-basaltic pumices, that were generated, mainly contain crystals that were drained back from the shallow parts of the plumbing system. Few euhedral to anhedral olivines and their melt inclusions testify to crystal fractionation and possible mixing between HK-basaltic magmas variable in their volatile content, extent of evolution and volume. The most primitive, volatile-rich, HK-basalt term is sizable at micrometer scale, only. We propose that the triggering mechanism of the paroxysm was initiated at moderate pressures (≥240 MPa) and was related to bubble-driven ascent of magma blobs. The latter rose through and interacted with overlying slightly more evolved melts and, finally mingled with the shallow crystal-rich magma just before the eruption.

Deposits of the 15.8 Ma Nuraxi explosive eruption crop out in the Sulcis volcanic district, southwestern Sardinia. They consist of a decimeter-thick pumice fallout layer overlain, with no apparent temporal break, by several tens of meters thick, high-grade ignimbrite. The eruption was from a vent probably located ∼20–30 km north of S. Pietro island, and it tapped a compositionally uniform, rhyolite magma reservoir (SiO2 70–72 wt.%) bearing about 20 vol.% crystals. The ignimbrite consists of: (a) a Lower Ignimbrite (LI)

We have characterized pumice products belonging to the climactic phase of the 800-year-b.p. Quilotoa eruption. Bulk rock compositions, petrography, mineral, and glass chemistry and textural investigations were performed on the three end-member pumice types, namely white, gray, and mingled pumices. All the investigated pumice clasts are dacites characterized by the same bulk rock composition and mineralogical assemblage, but glass compositions and bulk textures change according to different pumice types. White pumice has higher crystallinity (~48 wt%), abundant euhedral pheno/microphenocrysts, no groundmass microlites, the most evolved glass compositions (74–78 wt% SiO2), and heterogeneous vesicle populations marked by deformed and highly coalesced vesicles with thin walls. Gray pumice exhibits lower crystallinity (29–36 wt%), abundant broken and/or resorbed crystals, ubiquitous groundmass phenocryst fragments and microlites, the widest range of glass compositions (69–78 wt% SiO2), and quite homogeneous poorly deformed and coalesced vesicles with thicker walls. Mingled pumices are characterized by the alternation of bands or patches with white and gray pumice compositional and textural characteristics. We attribute heterogeneities in glass compositions and crystal and vesicle textures to processes occurring within volcanic conduits as magma is ascending to the surface. In particular, the above observations and results are consistent with an origin of a gray magma by heating of the original white magma in a strongly sheared region of the conduit because of a mechanism of viscous dissipation and crystal grinding and resorption at the conduit walls. The less viscous gray magma, therefore, would enable the onset and preservation of a high mass flux of the eruption otherwise difficult to explain for highly viscous crystal-rich dacitic magmas.

[1] The “large sample method” of archeomagnetic dating was applied to Stromboli. 127 samples (10 sites) yielded paleofield directions with 95% confidence intervals less than 2°. Coupled with a reference curve for secular variation in western Europe, these allow accurate dating of volcanic events. A lava flow underlying San Bartolo village gave a minimum age of AD 100 (±100); a lava overflow predating the last sector collapse was dated from 1350 (±60), suggesting the recent occurrence of highly hazardous events. Lava spatters and a hot avalanche high on the northern flank were emplaced during the XXth century; lava spatters on the lower flanks could date the onset of the still-ongoing phase from AD 550 (±50). These results are different from those obtained in a recent study, probably because traditional paleomagnetic sampling cannot yield sufficient precision, considering the characteristics of the archeomagnetic secular variation curve.

Crystal-rich materials (scoriae and lava flows) emitted during the 1985–2000 activity of Stromboli were taken into consideration for systematic study of bulk rock/matrix glass chemistry and in particular for the study of chemical and textural zoning of plagioclase, the most abundant mineral phase. Over the considered time period, bulk rock composition remained fairly constant in both major (SiO2 49.2–50.9 wt% and K2O 1.96–2.18 wt%) and trace elements. The quite constant chemistry of matrix glasses also indicates that the degree of crystallization of magma was maintained at around 50 vol%. Plagioclase ranges in composition between An62 and An88 and is characterized by alternating