Preface The volume "Volcanism in the Campania Plain: Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei, Ignimbrites" con- tains selected papers presented at the "Workshop on Vesuvius and the volcanism of the Campanian Plain" held in Napoli on 4-6 October 2004. The Workshop was organized on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the last eruption of Vesuvius, which occurred in March 1944. After this small-energy eruption, Vesuvius entered a repose period which hopefully will last for many more years. Actually, there are good scientific reasons to think that the cur- rent repose period might indeed last some centuries (Lima et al., 2003); this was amply dis- cussed in the scientific session of the Workshop. Nevertheless, the attention and vigilance of the political authorities towards the hazards posed by Vesuvius must not be lessened. The possibility of a long repose time following the 1944 eruption only means that the politicians and public authorities should include long-term plans in their agenda, hopefully improving the bizarre emergency evacuation plan prepared by the Department of Civil Protection. As a matter of fact, the creators of the evacuation plan, commendable for making the Vesuvius hazard a priority for the Neapolitan territory, have assumed that volcanologists will be able to provide, at least, an unequivocal two-week advance warning before an erup- tion. We know that this will most likely not be the case, and perhaps only a few days warn- ing will be possible, at best. The cases of Montserrat (1995), and Saint Vincent (1979) volcanoes in Antilles Islands are good examples of this circumstance. In particular, the lat- ter volcano erupted violently, with only one day of alert, after 77 years of quiescence. In that case, it was relatively easy to evacuate 3000 people, but in the case of Vesuvius, the people to evacuate are about 800,000! The results of inadequate warning, ill-prepared civil authorities and insufficient science recently occurred with tragic consequences to the peo- ple of southeast Asia following the December 2004 earthquake-tsunami. The main reason to organize the Workshop, and subsequently to publish this volume with Elsevier, is that, in the last few years, the Vesuvius hazard problem has become mostly an argument and discourse for politicians, territory planners, sociologists, etc., whereas the important scientific problems of Vesuvius seem to be left in the background. To the "out- side" world of the non-scientist, it may seem as if all the scientific problems concerning Vesuvius have been solved. Many Italian Earth scientists offer to Civil Authorities various models based on assumed "certainties" which in reality are far from being such. These "cer- tainties" assume the importance of scientific dogmas, and as such are passed from the politicians to the population. Naturally, politicians are eager to find scientists who give them "certainties" to be sold to the population; likewise, some scientists are eager to find politi- cians who support them with generous public funds for their "certainties". This creates a sit- uation which I consider lethal for an impartial and balanced evaluation of research results and progress (of course, this is true for all science fields with a high political profile). The "certainties" given to the politicians are only models based on available data, but I want to emphasize that we are still unable to construct a realistic, reliable model on how viii ecaferP Vesuvius works. There is still much to be done in order to increase our knowledge on the numerous variables which control the dynamics of an active volcano. I think that our igno- rance is certainly greater than our knowledge, especially regarding the many internal vari- ables which control magma formation and its extrusion on the land surface; besides, we have no guarantee that even a good knowledge of such parameters would ever allow deter- ministic prediction of a volcano's behaviour, particularly in the long term. My personal point of view is that the scientific community should indeed tell the public exactly what we know, but also what we do not know about how a volcano works. The lack of scientific knowledge is not what blocks the public from thoughtfully considering most highly scien- tific issues. Far more important than facts and figures is a honest framework within which the issue can be assessed. We know a lot about the geological and geochemical history of Vesuvius, and in these terms Vesuvius is probably the best-known volcano in the world- and this certainly is very important regarding predictions on the future behaviour of the volcano. Vesuvius is among the most studied active volcanoes on the Earth, not only for the great interest of the scien- tific community in the origin of silica-undersaturated alkaline rocks, but also for assessing the risk that this volcano presents to the 800,000 people inhabiting its slopes. Detailed fieldwork, historical accounts and a wealth of whole-rock geochemical data have enabled an unusually good reconstruction of its eruptive history (De Vivo et al., 2003). However, the magmatic system which feeds and drives both the plinian and non-plinian eruptions is far from being well understood. If we want to progress in the knowledge and possibly have some keys to forecast eruptions, we must investigate and develop fundamental research on the internal dynamics of the volcano. In the last 51 years, as principal leader of my research group, in collaboration with many foreign Institutions- such as United States Geological Survey (Reston, VA, USA), American Museum of Natural History (New York, USA), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Blacksburg, VA, USA), University of California (Santa Barbara, USA), Central Washington University (Ellensburg, WA, USA), University of Bristol (UK), University College London (UK) and University of Tasmania (Hobart, Australia)- I have worked both in the direction of obtaining better and more detailed knowledge on historic and ancient eruptions of the Somma-Vesuvius system, and more recently, on research con- cerning the internal behaviour of the volcano, through studies of fluid and melt inclusions (MI) (small droplets of trapped melts and volatiles) in the erupted crystals, combined with solubility experiments involving complex volatile systems (H20, SO ,2 )1C (De Vivo et al., 2005) (see Lima et al., this volume; Webster et al., this volume). A second important contribution to the Workshop and to this volume is the problem of the ignimbrites in the Campania Plain, which has been studied and debated since the begin- ning of XIX Century (see Scandone et al., this volume). The ignimbritic deposits, known locally as Tufo Grigio Campano (Campanian Gray Tuff) attracted the attention of Scacchi (1890), which attributed them to eruptions originating from different sources in the Campanian Plain. Later this view was opposed by Franco (1900), who instead attributed the Campanian Gray Tuff to a unique source in the Campi Flegrei. The latter hypothesis (which later became another dogma of the Italian volcanological community) has been favoured by recent authors (Rosi and Sbrana, 1987; Fisher et al., 1993; Orsi et al., 1996; Ort et al., 1999), who suggest that the Campanian Ignimbrite was fed by Campi Flegrei and the eruption resulted in the formation of a 21 km wide caldera, centred, in the Gulf of Pozzuoli. Preface ix This view has been challenged by De givo et al. (2001) and Rolandi et al. (2003), who demonstrate that different ignimbrite events (at least 6) occurred in the Campania Plain, spanning, at least the period from >315 ka to 91 ka BE The Campanian Ignimbrite dated at 39 ka is just the largest, but not a "unique" event in the Campania Plain. According to De Vivo et al. (2001) and Rolandi et al. (2003), the ignimbrites originated from a fracture system related with the subsidence of the Campania Plain. A contribution concerning the ignimbrites in the Campania Plain is the paper by Bohrson et al. (this volume). The third problem in the Campania Plain is the caldera unrest (bradyseism) of Campi Flegrei (see De Vivo and Lima, this volume; Scandone et al., this volume). The hypothe- sis about this ground deformation phenomenon is presented to the population with the view that at any bradyseismic event might correspond to an eruption, though, at calderas, a distinctive feature of such deformation episodes is that they are not followed by eruptions (Dzurisin and Newall, 1984). In the Campi Flegrei, indeed, since Roman times many of such events have occurred, but only once there was an eruption (Monte Nuovo eruption, 1538 .)DA This points to the fact that between a bradyseismic event and an eruption there is no necessary cause-effect relationship. De Vivo and Lima (this volume) propose a model suggesting that ground deformations could be generated by conductive heating of the hydrothermal fluids overlying the magmatic chamber. The authors elaborate the details of the hydrothermal model, comparing the evolu- tion of the Campi Flegrei system through time, to the model of the porphyry systems (Henley and McNabb, 1978; Burnham, 1979; Fournier, 1999). In other words, according to the authors, the Campi Flegrei might represent a modem analogue of former intrusive-volcanic systems, now mineralized porphyry systems (Beane and Titley, 1981; Beane and Bodnar, 1995; Roedder and Bodnar, 1997; see also Rapien et .la (2003) about White Island, New Zealand). In this view, the fluids at Campi Flegrei, heated by underlying crystallizing magma, under lithostatic pressure for long periods of time, generate overpressure (volatile accumulation) in the upper, apical, part of the magma chamber (senso lato), that confined by impermeable rind, causes uplift of the overlying rocks (positive bradyseism). A crisis occurs when the conditions change from lithostatic to hydrostatic pressure, with consequent boiling (De Vivo et al., 1989), hydraulic fracturing, seismic tremor and then pressure release. At this point, the area experiences the maximum degree of inflation, which is then followed by pres- sure release and beginning of subsidence (deflation of the ground). Afterwards, the system, saturated with boiling fluids, begins to seal again due to the precipitation of newly formed minerals. The beginning of a new positive bradyseism phase will occur only after several years when the system "reloads" under new lithostatic pressure conditions. Whatever will be the real scenario in the short- and long term for Vesuvius, Ignimbrites and Campi Flegrei in the Campania Plain, the results demonstrate once again that research progress is attained only if there is a non-dogmatic approach, which favours an impartial and balanced evaluation of the research results. This, unfortunately, has not been the case in Italy in recent years, mostly because of a too-close, unhealthy connection between politics and science. May these new research results attract and motivate new researchers from all over the world. The field is still open as many contentious issues exist and anyone capable to improve the knowledge of Vesuvius and Campania Plain volcanism should be welcome for the benefit of science and of the people living around Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei. This volume contains 41 papers that deal with particular aspects of volcanic activity in the Campania Plain. x Preface The paper by Scandone and co-workers si a comprehensive review of the volcanologi- cal history of the volcanoes in the Neapolitan area: Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei and the Ignimbrites. Turco and co-workers describe the process of extension and associated magmatic activ- ity in the Tyrrhenian margin of the Apennines chain. Their model realistically assembles in a unique kinematic framework, the first-order structures that are observed in the Apennine area and in the Tyrrhenian basin. Milia and co-workers, present an interpretation of an exactly spaced seismic grid. This permits the reconstruction of the paleogeography of Naples Bay before the onset of vol- canic activity and the paleogeographic changes that followed the emplacement of the vol- canic units. The authors also question the existence of a caldera offshore Campi Flegrei. Milia, Torrente and Giordano discuss the slope instability processes occurring on the flanks of the submerged volcanoes in Naples Bay off Campi Flegrei and consider these events as elements to be taken into account when evaluating the tsunami risk for the densely populated Naples Bay coast. Perrotta and co-workers support the hypothesis of the location of the Campanian Ignimbrite caldera as occupying the Campi Flegrei region. According to these authors, new exposures show that proximal deposits are associated with the Campanian Ignimbrite and allow a better localization of the caldera boundary, which include part of the city of Naples. The study of Insinga and co-workers, performed on terrestrial and marine successions, helps to better understand the late-Holocene volcanological and stratigraphical evolution of the southwestern rim of Campi Flegrei caldera, previously reported as quiescent during the last 10,000 years. These authors report new chronostratigraphic data by ~4 and C4~ dating methods. Fedele and co-workers report the results of a study on syenite nodules from the Breccia Museo deposit in the Campi Flegrei. Such nodules record convincing evidence of a tran- sition from a magma-dominated regime to a fluid-dominated hydrothermal phase at the margins of a magma chamber, where a magma of trachytic composition was sufficiently evolved to exsolve an aqueous fluid carrying a complex solute, containing, among other components, high amounts of REE elements. Bellucci and co-workers present a study of the Upper Pleistocene ignimbrites of the Campania margin in the Neapolitan area performed using outcrops, cores and seismic reflection data. The authors make a physical correlation between onshore and offshore stratigraphic units and evaluate NW-SE faults as being active during ignimbrite emplace- ment, in agreement with a model which attributes the Upper Pleistocene ignimbrites of the Neapolitan area as being related to emission from a regional fault system. The paper by Piochi and co-workers reviews major, trace and isotopic data (Sr, Nd, Pb, O) relative to the entire volcanic activity of Somma-Vesuvius. The data strongly suggest a major role for evolutionary processes such as fractional crystallization, contamination, crystal trapping and magma mixing, occurring after magma genesis in the mantle. Chemical and isotopic data together with fluid inclusion data points to the existence of three main levels of magma storage, the two deepest ones (at ~8 and >12 km) being prob- ably long-lived reservoirs, and an uppermost crustal level (at 5~ km) that probably coin- cides with the volcanic conduit. Cecchetti and co-workers highlight the role of magmatic volatiles and of the deep sys- tem in the explosive dynamics of the eruptions during this period of activity. The authors Preface xi demonstrate that input of volatile-rich magma blobs caused the recent violent strombolian and subplinian eruptions at Vesuvius. Webster and co-workers determined through silicate melt compositions, and new exper- imental volatile solubility data for the complex system- phonolite melt + H20 + NaC1 + 1CK + CaC12. Their data provide a more accurate interpretation of the past explosive and passive-effusive eruptive activities of Somma-Vesuvius in terms of magma geochemistry and degassing processes. The authors also report new 200-Mpa experiments which reveal that small to modest levels of S in oxidized phonolitic melt have a substantial capacity to promote degassing by reducing 1C solubility in melt. Lima and co-workers present compositional data of reheated silicate MI in olivine and clinopyroxene crystals from cumulate nodules ejected by 79 DA plinian and by 1944 OA inter- plinian eruptions. Variation diagrams of some element ratios as a function of host crystal (olivine and cpx) Mg# MI in cumulate nodules and in bulk rocks from 79 DA and 1944 DA eruptions, are interpreted to depend on hydrothermal processes active in the upper parts of the shallow magma chamber, before and during explosive plinian and interplinian eruptions. Bohrson and co-workers highlight the impact crystal-liquid separation has on melt compositional evolution and particularly focus on trace element and Th isotope evidence for open-system processes in the magma body associated with the Campanian Ignimbrite. For their interpretation, the authors utilize thermodynamic and quantitative mass-balance modelling of major and trace element data and semi-quantitative limits on Th and Sr iso- topes to evaluate the role of crystal-melt separation, magma-fluid interaction, and assim- ilation of wall rock on the geochemical evolution of the Campanian Ignimbrite. De Vivo and Lima elaborate a hydrothermal model to explain the ground movements (bradyseism) at Campi Flegrei. To develop such a model, the authors use as an analogue for the evolving Campi Flegrei subvolcanic system, the model of the porphyry mineralized systems. I am grateful to the contributors of this volume, who with their papers have made pos- sible this publication and, whose results, I am confident, will be well received by the world scientific community. .B De Vivo stnemegdelwonkcA I wish to thank the Universitfi degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Scafi (Societfi di Navigazione SpA, Napoli), Servizi Tecnici Integrati Srl and Ordine dei Geologi della Campania for the support given for the organization of the Workshop; Stefano Albanese, Domenico Cicchella, Paola Frattini and Luca Fedele for their help for the activities prior to and during the Workshop. References ,enaeB ,.E.R dA ,randoB R.J., .5991 lamrehtordyH sdiulf dna lamrehtordyh noitaretla ni yryhprop reppoc .stisoped .zirA .loeG .coS ,.giD ,02 .39-38 ,enaeB ,.E.R ,yeltiT ,.R.S .1891 yryhproP reppoc .stisoped traP .II lamrehtordyH noitaretla dna .noitazilarenim .nocE .loeG ht57 yrasrevinnA ,.loV .362-532 ecaferP xii Bohrson, W.A., Spera, EJ., Fowler, S.J., Belkin, H.E., De Vivo, B., Rolandi, G., this volume. Petrogenesis of the 39.3 ka Campanian Ignimbrite: implications for open-system processes from trace element and Th isotopic data. Burnham, W.C., 1979. Magmas and hydrothermal fluids. In: Barnes, H.L. (Ed.), Geochemistry of Hydrothermal Ore Deposits. Wiley, New York, pp. 71-136. De Vivo, B., Ayuso, R.A., Belkin, H.E., Fedele, L., Lima, A., Rolandi, G., Somma, R., Webster, J.D., 2003. Chemistry, Fluid/Melt Inclusions and Isotopic Data of Lavas, Tephra and Nodules from >25 ka to 1944 DA of the Mt. Somma-Vesuvius Volcanic Activity. Mt. Somma-Vesuvius Geochemical Archive. Dipartimento di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Universith di Napoli Federico II, Open File Report 1-2003, 143pp. De Vivo, B., Belkin, H.E., Barbieri, M., Chelini, ,.W Lattanzi, ,.P Lima, A., Tolomeo, L., 1989. The Campi Flegrei (Italy) geothermal system: a fluid inclusion study of the Mofete and San Vito fields. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 36, 303-326. De Vivo, B., Lima, A., this volume. An hydrothermal model to explain the ground movements (bradyseism) at Campi Flegrei. De Vivo, B., Lima, A., Webster, J.D., 2005. Volatiles in magmatic-volcanic systems. Elements ,1 19-24. De Vivo, B., Rolandi, G., Gans, P.B., Calvert, A., Bohrson, W.A., Spera, EJ., Belkin, H.E., 2001. New constraints on the pyroclastic eruptive history of the Campanian volcanic plain. Mineral. Petrol. 73, 47-66. Dzurisin, D., Newhall, C.G., 1984. Recent ground deformation and seismicity at Long Valley (California), Yellowstone (Wyoming), the Phlegrean Fields (Italy) and Rabaul (Papua, new Guinea). In: Hill, D.P., Bailey, R.A., Ryall, A.S. (Eds), Proceedings of Workshop XIX: Active Tectonic and Magmatic Processes Beneath Long Valley Caldera, Eastern California. Open-File Report- U.S. Geological Survey, pp. 784-829. Fisher, R.V., Orsi, G., Ort, M., Heiken, G., 1993. Mobility of large volume pyroclastic flow -emplacement of the Campanian Ignimbrite, Italy. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 56, 205-220. Fournier, R.O., 1999. Hydrothermal processes related to movement of fluid from plastic into brittle rock in the magmatic-epithermal environment. Econ. Geol. 94(8), 1193-1211. Franco, ,.P 1900. 1I Tufo della Campania. Boll. Soc. Nat. XIV, 9-25. Henley, R.W., McNabb, A., 1978. Magmatic vapour plumes and ground water interaction in porphyry copper emplacement. Econ. Geol. 73, 1-20. Lima, A., Danyushevsky, L.V., De Vivo, B., Fedele, L., 2003. A model for the evolution of the Mt. Somma- Vesuvius magmatic system based on fluid and melt inclusion investigations. In: De Vivo, B., Bodnar, R.J. (Eds), Melt Inclusions in Volcanic Systems. Methods, Applications and Problems. Series: Developments in Volcanology, Vol. .5 Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 227-249. Lima, A., De Vivo, B., Fedele, L., Sintoni, E, this volume. Influence of hydrothermal processes on geochemical variations between the 79 DA and 1944 DA Vesuvius eruptions. Orsi, G., de Vita, S., Di Vito, M., 1996. The restless, resurgent Campi Flegrei nested caldera (Italy): constraints on its evolution and configuration. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 74, 179-214. Ort, M., Rosi, M., Anderson, C.D., 1999. Correlation of deposits and vent locations of the proximal Campanian Ignimbrite deposits, Campi Flegrei, Italy, based on natural remnant magnetization and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility characteristics, Flegrei. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 91,167-178. Rapien, M.H., Bodnar, R.J., Simmons, S.E, Szabo, C.S., Wood, C.P., Sutton, S.R., 2003. Melt inclusion study of the embryonic porphyry copper system at White island, New Zealand. Econ. Geol., Spec. Publ. ,01 41-59. Roedder, E., Bodnar, R.J., 1997. Fluid inclusion studies of hydrothermal ore deposits. In: Barnes, H.L. (Ed.), Geochemistry of Hydrothermal Ore Deposits, 3rd ed. Wiley, New York, pp. 657-698. Rolandi, G., Bellucci, F., Heizler, M.T., Belkin, H.E., De Vivo, B., 2003. Tectonic controls on the genesis of ign- imbrites from the Campanian Volcanic Zone, Southern Italy. In: De Vivo, B., Scandone, R. (Eds), Ignimbrites of the Campanian Plain, Italy. Mineral. Petrol. 79, 3-31. Rosi, M., Sbrana, A. (Eds), 1987. Phlegraean Fields, Vol. 114. CNR. Quad. Ric. Sci., Roma., 167pp. Scacchi, A., 1890. La regione vulcanica fluorifera della Campania, II editione. Mem. Regio Com. Geol. It., Vol. ,VI Firenze. Scandone, R., Giacomelli, L., Fattori Speranza, E, this volume. The volcanological history of the volcanoes of Naples: a review. Webster, J.D., Sintoni, M.E, De Vivo, B., this volume. The role of sulfur in promoting magmatic degassing and volcanic eruption at Mt. Somma-Vesuvius. msinacloV ni eht ainapmaC :nialP ,suivuseV Campi Flegrei dna setirbmingI detide yb .B eD oviV (cid:14)9 2006 Elsevier .V.B llA rights .devreser retpahC 1 The volcanological history of the volcanoes of Naples: a review Roberto Scandone*, Lisetta Giacomelli and Francesca Fattori Speranza Dipartimento di Fisica, Universith Roma Tre, aiV Vasca Navale ,48 00146, Roma, Italy Abstract ipmaC Flegrei dna suivuseV were mainly formed after eht noitpure of eht nainapmaC etirbmingI 93( kyr) gnola ylwen formed cinotcet faults. ehT caldera of Campi Flegrei saw formed after another suonimulov noitpure (the natilopaeN wolleY Tuff derrucco between 21 dna 51 kyr). ehT noitamrof of eht caldera derovaf eht ecnerrucco of eht tneuqesbus activity mostly within eht collapsed .erutcurts .rM suivuseV saw entirely built after 52 kyr. ehT ytivitca displays tnereffid styles ranging from plinian snoitpure with egareva return period of sdnasuoht years, ot dlim evisuffe .ytivitca evisuffE ytivitca sah been tnanimoderp ni eht last derdnuh years. ehT ecafrusbus erutcurts of eht onaclov sedivorp ecnedive of a railucep wollahs rigid central core where evisnetxe lamrehtordyh sessecorp era still .evitca ehT ecnerrucco of citamgam reservoir ta a depth woleb 8 mk si also .detseggus I. Introduction The Campanian plain (Fig. 1) in southern Italy is bordered by Mesozoic carbonate plat- forms, which subsided during the Pliocene and Pleistocene with a maximum vertical extent of 5 km (Ippolito et al., 1973). Its origin has been related to the stretching and thin- ning of the continental crust by a counter-clockwise rotation of the Italian peninsula and the contemporaneous opening of the Tyrrhenian sea with a consequent subsidence of the carbonate platform along most of the Tyrrhenian coast (Scandone, 1979a). Campi Flegrei, Vesuvius and the island of Procida are located to the south-east along the coast. Campi Flegrei activity spans the period from 47 kyr (age of the oldest products outcropping in Campi Flegrei) to the present (Di Girolamo et al., 1984; Rosi and Sbrana, 1987). Most of the explosive activity of Somma-Vesuvius occurred after 25 kyr (Santacroce, 1987), whereas activity on Procida occurred between >40 kyr and 18 kyr (Di Girolamo et al., 1984; De Astis et al., 2004). A widespread pyroclastic deposit called the "Campanian Ignimbrite" (Barberi et al., 1978) is found all over the plain. The city of Naples lies in the middle of the plain and is bordered by the two active volcanoes of Campi Flegrei and Vesuvius. The high volcanic risk related with the possi- ble renewal of activity of one of these volcanoes close to a densely inhabited area pro- moted an intense scientific effort to improve the knowledge on the eruptive history of *Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (R. Scandone). 2 R. Scandone, L. Giacomelli, EE Speranza erugiF .1 etilletaS egami of nrehtuos nainapmaC nialp htiw eht evitca seonaclov dnuora eht yab of .selpaN morF tfel ot thgir era :elbisiv aihcsI ,dnalsI adicorP ,dnalsI ipmaC iergelF dna .suivuseV ehT mehtuos -nomorp yrot si eht otnerroS alusnineP edam yb eht gnipporctuo citanobrac .smroftalp the volcanoes as well as their style of eruption (a summary of these efforts is reported in several special issues of scientific journals) (Barberi et al., 1984; Luongo and Scandone, 1991; De Vivo et al., 1993; Orsi et al., 1999; Spera et al., 1998; De Vivo and Rolandi, 2001; De Vivo and Scandone, 2003; Civetta et al., 2004). The aim of this paper is an attempt to summarize the volcanological history of the vol- canoes of the Campanian plain with an emphasis to the known facts and the remaining problems. 2. The Campanian Ignimbrite(s) The term Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) has been given to a unique pyroclastic-flow deposit occurring mostly in the Campanian plain and in the close valleys of the Apennine chain up to 800-900 m above sea level (Barberi et al., 1978). This deposit was first identified by Breislak (1798) and later studied by different authors who called it "Tufo Pipernoide" or "Tufo Grigio Campano" (Scacchi, 1848, 1890; De Lorenzo, 1904; Rittmann, 1950; Di Girolamo, 1968). In the following sections, when not differently specified, the term "Campanian Ignimbrite" is referred to the huge deposit of a single volcanic eruption that occurred at 39 kyr (De Vivo et al., 2001). The volcanological history of the volcanoes of Naples 2.1. The deposit The deposit of the distal facies of the Campanian Ignimbrite is made up of pumice and black scoriae, with a different degree of flattening, embedded in an ashy matrix with sub- ordinate lithics and crystals. Columnar jointing and fumarolic pipes are often observed. Lateral facies variation produces a change in color from a poorly welded gray deposit to a more welded yellow one. Di Girolamo et al. (1973) identified a pumice fall deposit (Fig. 2) at the base of the Campanian Ignimbrite, in some places separated from the overlaying pyroclastic flow deposit, by a paleosol. Scandone et al. (1991), Rosi et al. (1999), and Polacci et al. (2003) found this pumice deposit in direct contact with the Ignimbrite and related it with the air fall deposition from a plinian eruptive column which eventually resulted in the collapse and subsequent deposition of an ash flow deposit. Perrotta and Scarpati (2003) provided an estimate of the partition between the pumice fall deposit at the base of the CI and the co-ignimbrite ash fall. A discrepancy exists in the identification of the air fall deposit of the CI in the marine deposits of the Eastern Mediterranean. Keller et al. (1978) correlate a tephra layer (the 3-Y layer dated at 26 kyr), found mostly in the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas with the fall deposit of the CI. Thunell et al. (1979), on the contrary, associate the co-ignimbrite layer of the Campanian Ignimbrite with the widespread 5-Y ash layer dated by the oxigen isotope record, at approximately 38 kyr. Munno and Petrosino (2004) associate the 5-Y layer, with the CI eruption and the 3-Y layer with another eruption of Campi Flegrei. erugiF .2 riA llaf ecimup tisoped ta eht esab of eht nainapmaC etirbmingI ni eht ytilacol of naS onitraM ni eht ytic of .selpaN 4 .R Scandone, .L Giacomelli, .F.F Speranza Rosi and Sbrana (1987) suggested that the proximal facies of the Campanian Ignimbrite were made up by the "Piperno" deposit of Campi Flegrei and the overlaying breccia (Museum Breccia of Johnston-Lewis, 1889). The volume estimates of the deposit vary with a factor of 2. Thunnell et al. (1979) esti- mate the co-ignimbrite ash layer at 30-40 km 3 of dense rock equivalent, and hypothesize a similar volume for the ignimbrite for a total volume of 80 km .3 Rolandi et al. (2003) give a total estimate of 200 km 3 DRE for both the on-land distribution of the ash deposit and the distal air fall. 2.2. The source problem De Lorenzo (1904) thought that the "Tufo Pipernoide Campano" and the pipernoid tuff of Campi Flegrei "Piperno" were similar deposits that erupted from several vents located in the proximity of the Camaldoli hill on the rim of Campi Flegrei. Rittmann (1950) sug- gested that the Tufo Grigio Campano and the Piperno Tuff resulted from different eruptions but their source area was proximal to Campi Flegrei. Di Girolamo (1970), Barberi et al. (1978), Di Girolamo et al. (1984) and Liter et al. (1987) suggest that the Campanian Ignimbrite was fed through an arcuate fracture on the northern edge of Campi Flegrei. Rosi and Sbrana (1987), Fisher et al. (1993), Orsi et al. (1996) and Ort et al. (1999) sug- gest that the Campanian Ignimbrite was fed by Campi Flegrei, and the eruption resulted in the formation of a 12-km-wide caldera centered on the Gulf of Pozzuoli. Scandone et al. ( 1991) propose that the Campanian Ignimbrite was erupted through a NE-SW fracture bor- dering at the southern edge the Campi Flegrei and on the northern one, the so-called Acerra Graben. De Vivo et al. (2001) and Rolandi et al. (2003) suggest that the Campanian Ignimbrite was fed by a fracture system related with the sinking of the Campanian plain. 2.3. The age problem The age of the Campanian Ignimbrite has been the object of an intense debate (see a sum- mary in Scandone et al., 1991). Available C4~ dates ranged between 28 and 40 kyr; K-Ar age of 37 kyr was also provided. More recently, De Vivo et al. (2001) put more precise constraints on the age of the Campanian Ignimbrite, identifying different pyroclastic deposits spread over the plain and having different ~4 ages of 205 kyr, 184 kyr, 157 kyr, 39 kyr and 81 kyr. These authors (De Vivo et al., 2001) correlate, the most volumi- nous deposit, having an age of 39 kyr, with the Campanian Ignimbrite. 3. Campi Flegrei Volcanic products younger than 1 Ma are found in several drillings all over the Campanian plain (Ippolito et al., 1973; Brocchini et al., 2001 .) Volcanic products younger than 200 kyr outcrop on Ischia, Procida islands, Campi Flegrei and Vesuvius in the southern part of the Campanian Region. Procida islands is separated by Campi Flegrei by a narrow strait and its activity may be considered as similar to the one occurring in Campi Flegrei (Di Girolamo et al., 1984). The products outcropping on Procida span a period between