New constraints on Middle-Late Pleistocene large-magnitude eruptions from Campi Flegrei 

<p>Assessing the history, dynamics and magnitude of pre-historic explosive volcanic eruptions relies heavily on the completeness of the stratigraphic records, the spatial distribution, and the sedimentological features of the pyroclastic deposits. Near-vent volcanic successions provide fundamental but often patchy information, both in terms of record completeness (e.g., scarce accessibility to the older deposits) and of the spatial variability of the sedimentological features. Hence, medial to distal sections increasingly represent essential integrative records.</p> <p>Campi Flegrei (CF) is among the most productive volcanoes of the Mediterranean area, with a volcanic history comprised of well-known caldera-forming eruptions (e.g., Campanian Ignimbrite, CI, ~40 ka; Neapolitan Yellow Tuff, NYT, ~14 ka). Furthermore, recent studies correlated a well-known widespread distal ash layer, the so-called Y-3, with a poorly exposed proximal CF pyroclastic unit (Masseria del Monte Tuff, 29ka), allowing a re-assessment of the magnitude of this eruption, now recognized as a third large-magnitude (VEI 6) eruption at CF. The discovery of this large eruption reduces drastically the recurrence intervals of large-magnitude events at CF and has major implications for volcanic hazard assessment.</p> <p>While the most powerful Late Pleistocene (e.g., post-NYT and partially post-CI) eruptions at CF have been the subject of extensive investigations, less is known about its earliest activity. Motivated by this knowledge gap, we have reviewed the research on Middle-Late Pleistocene eruptions from the CF (~160-90 ka) in light of new compositional (EMPA + LA-ICP-MS), grain-size distribution (dry/wet sieving and laser) and morphoscopy (SEM) data of tephra layers from proximal and distal settings, including inland and offshore records. Our study provides a long-term overview and cornerstone that will help provide future eruptive scenarios, essential for the quantification of recurrence times of explosive activity and in volcanic hazard assessment in the Neapolitan area. This overview sets the basis for modelling dispersion as well as eruptive dynamics parameters of pre-CI large-magnitude eruptions, needed to better understand the behavior of the CF caldera with a long-term perspective.</p>