Phlegraean Fields

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Phlegraean Fields
Phlegraean Fields (image from the ISS)

Phlegraean Fields (image from the ISS )

height 458  m slm
location Campania , Italy
Coordinates 40 ° 49 '40 "  N , 14 ° 8' 21"  E Coordinates: 40 ° 49 '40 "  N , 14 ° 8' 21"  E
Phlegraean Fields (Campania)
Phlegraean Fields
Type Volcanic field
Last eruption 1538

The Phlegraean Fields ( ancient Greek Φλεγραία πεδία from φλέγειν phlégein 'burn'; Latin Phlegraei campi; Italian Campi Flegrei ) are an area about 20 km west of Vesuvius with high volcanic activity in the Italian region of Campania . The Phlegraean Fields are classified as a super volcano .

Position and extent

Topographic map of the Phlegraean Fields

The Phlegraean Fields extend over an area of ​​more than 150 km². They begin directly on the western outskirts of Naples and continue along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea or the Gulf of Naples . In the south they extend under the sea and include the area of ​​the islands of Ischia and Procida (in the southwest) and Nisida (in the northeast). The most important place in the region and at the same time a magnet for many tourists is the city of Pozzuoli .

Volcanic activity

The solfatara near Pozzuoli
Gas leaks in the Solfatara crater

The soil in the fields can get very hot due to volcanic activity. In addition to solfataras and mofettes, there are countless thermal springs and fumaroles . In many places the rock is colored yellow by the rising sulfur fumes . There are more than 50 eruption sources in the entire area (for example the Solfatara crater ). The invisible, sunken caldera is two-thirds under water and represents one of more than 20 super volcanoes on earth. In 2008 it was discovered that the Phlegraean Fields and Vesuvius share a magma chamber ten kilometers deep .

The first known eruption (" Campanian Ignimbrite ") is currently estimated to be around 37,280 BC. Estimated; older estimates vary between 45,000 and 35,000 BC. During this supermassive eruption approx. 80 to 150 km³ tephra were ejected; it thus corresponds to a volcanic explosivity index (VEI) of 7. With regard to the VEI, it can compete with the strongest recorded eruptions in historical time (especially Tambora in 1815, but also Krakatau in 1883). Other authors even speak of 350 km³. A new study found evidence of a previously unknown eruption about 29,000 years ago, the deposits of which were found in an area of ​​about 150,000 square kilometers.

In another major eruption 15,000 years ago, 40 km³ of material were ejected and 1000 km² of soil was destroyed. The last major eruption took place in 1538. It lasted eight days, and from the ejected material a new mountain emerged - Monte Nuovo  - and the adjacent Lago d'Averno ( Lake Averno ; a volcanic crater filled with water) was cut off from the sea.

In 2012 underground activities were measured. The civil defense then increased the warning level.

On August 21, 2017, an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.0 shook the island of Ischia .

The transfer of igneous fluids from the main reservoir at a depth of 7 to 8 km into the shallow hydrothermal system (~ 3 km) has been suggested as a possible cause of the recent unrest.

history

During the Roman civil wars had Averno temporary location a secret shipyard to warships against Sextus Pompey to build. Lake Avern could not be seen from the sea, but it was connected to the Mediterranean via Lake Lucrino . 36 BC BC (after the defeat of Sextus Pompeius) the shipyard and the fleet were relocated to the nearby Misenum , as there was no longer any reason to hide it. The Roman poet Virgil mentioned the fields in his Aeneid .

literature

  • Christof Hug-Fleck: Italy's volcanoes - Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei, Stromboli, Vulcano, Etna . CHF-Verlag, 2012, ISBN 978-3-942838-05-4 .
  • Mathias Döring: In the most wondrous region in the world - The Phlegraean Fields on the Gulf of Naples. Parmenios-Verlag, 2012, ISBN 978-3-9815362-0-1 .

Web links

Commons : Phlegraean Fields  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Paul Kreiner: The invisible super volcano. In: Stuttgarter Zeitung online. January 19, 2013, accessed January 20, 2013.
  2. ^ B. De Vivo, G. Rolandi, PB Gans, A. Calvert, WA Bohrson, FJ Spera, HE Belkin: New constraints on the pyroclastic eruptive history of the Campanian volcanic Plain (Italy) . In: Mineralogy and Petrology . tape 73 , no. 1-3 . Springer Vienna, November 2001, p. 47-65 , doi : 10.1007 / s007100170010 .
  3. ↑ F. Ossing: An extremely short reversal of the polarity of the earth's magnetic field, climatic fluctuations and a super volcano (press release at idw)
  4. ↑ Volcanism: Europe's super volcano is more active than expected. Retrieved April 26, 2019 .
  5. ↑ stern.de
  6. ↑ Francesca Forni, Wim Degruyter, Olivier Bachmann, Gianfilippo De Astis, Silvio Mollo: Long-term magmatic evolution reveals the beginning of a new caldera cycle at Campi Flegrei. In: Science Advances. 4, 2018, p. Eaat9401, doi: 10.1126 / sciadv.aat9401 .