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The Breccia Museo formation, Campi Flegrei, southern Italy: geochronology, chemostratigraphy and relationship with the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption

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Abstract

The Breccia Museo is one of the most debated volcanic formations of the Campi Flegrei volcanic district. The deposit, made up of six distinctive stratigraphic units, has been interpreted by some as the proximal facies of the major caldera-forming Campanian Ignimbrite eruption, and by others as the product of several, more recent, independent and localized events. New geochemical and chemostratigraphical data and Ar–Ar age determinations for several units of the Breccia Museo deposits (~39 ka), correlate well with the Campanian Ignimbrite-forming eruption. The chemical zoning of the Breccia Museo deposits is interpreted here to be a consequence of a three-stage event that tapped a vertically zoned trachytic magma chamber.

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Acknowledgements

The authors warmly thank Antonio Canzanella for its kind help during XRF analyses, Marcello Serracino for skilled microprobe work and James Saburomaru for assistance during Ar–Ar age measurements. An early version of the manuscript was kindly reviewed by Darren Gravley, whose suggestions greatly improved its quality and readability. Associate Editor M. A. Clynne and official reviewers W. Bohrson and D. Pyle are gratefully thanked for their very useful constructive criticism. Financial support was provided by PRIN 2003 (to L.M.) and Legge 5 Regione Campania (to V.M.) grants.

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Lorenzo Fedele, Leone Melluso, Vincenzo Morra & Gennaro Ricci

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

    Marvin Lanphere

  3. Largo S. Marcellino 10, Naples, 80134, Italy

    Claudio Scarpati & Annamaria Perrotta

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  1. Lorenzo Fedele
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  2. Claudio Scarpati
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  3. Marvin Lanphere
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  4. Leone Melluso
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  5. Vincenzo Morra
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  7. Gennaro Ricci
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Correspondence to Lorenzo Fedele.

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Fedele, L., Scarpati, C., Lanphere, M. et al. The Breccia Museo formation, Campi Flegrei, southern Italy: geochronology, chemostratigraphy and relationship with the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption. Bull Volcanol 70, 1189–1219 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-008-0197-y

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