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40Ar/39Ar dating of tuff vents in the Campi Flegrei caldera (southern Italy): toward a new chronostratigraphic reconstruction of the Holocene volcanic activity

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Abstract

The Campi Flegrei hosts numerous monogenetic vents inferred to be younger than the 15 ka Neapolitan Yellow Tuff. Sanidine crystals from the three young Campi Flegrei vents of Fondi di Baia, Bacoli and Nisida were dated using 40Ar/39Ar geochronology. These vents, together with several other young edifices, occur roughly along the inner border of the Campi Flegrei caldera, suggesting that the volcanic conduits are controlled by caldera-bounding faults. Plateau ages of ∼9.6 ka (Fondi di Baia), ∼8.6 ka (Bacoli) and ∼3.9 ka (Nisida) indicate eruptive activity during intervals previously interpreted as quiescent. A critical revision, involving calendar age correction of literature 14C data and available 40Ar/39Ar age data, is presented. A new reference chronostratigraphic framework for Holocene Phlegrean activity, which significantly differs from the previously adopted ones, is proposed. This has important implications for understanding the Campi Flegrei eruptive history and, ultimately, for the evaluation of related volcanic risk and hazard, for which the inferred history of its recent activity is generally taken into account.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank James Saburomaru, Dean Miller and Simone Lepore for sample preparation and argon analyses. Early revisions by Marvin Lanphere and Patrick Muffler significantly improved the overall quality of the paper. Robert Duncan and Michael Ort are thankfully acknowledged for their constructive official reviews. Associate Editor Michael Clynne and Executive Editor James White are warmly thanked for comments, suggestions and editorial handling. This work was carried out in the framework of the CARG project for the production of the geological sheets for the Italian area.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Napoli Federico II, via Mezzocannone 8, 80134, Naples, Italy

    L. Fedele, V. Morra, A. Perrotta & C. Scarpati

  2. Istituto per l’Ambiente Marino Costiero (IAMC)-CNR, Calata Porta di Massa, Porto di Napoli, 80133, Naples, Italy

    D. D. Insinga

  3. US Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94925, USA

    A. T. Calvert

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  1. L. Fedele
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  2. D. D. Insinga
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  3. A. T. Calvert
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  4. V. Morra
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  5. A. Perrotta
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Correspondence to L. Fedele.

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Editorial responsibility: MA Clynne

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Fedele, L., Insinga, D.D., Calvert, A.T. et al. 40Ar/39Ar dating of tuff vents in the Campi Flegrei caldera (southern Italy): toward a new chronostratigraphic reconstruction of the Holocene volcanic activity. Bull Volcanol 73, 1323–1336 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-011-0478-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-011-0478-8

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