About the volcano
Campi Flegrei, the “burning fields”, is a caldera more than ten kilometres across, partly flooded by the Bay of Pozzuoli. It formed in two huge eruptions: the Campanian Ignimbrite about 39,000 years ago and the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff about 15,000 years ago. Its last eruption, in 1538, built the cone of Monte Nuovo within a few days. The caldera is famous for bradyseism – the slow uplift and subsidence of the ground at Pozzuoli; uplift resumed in 2005 and in recent years it has been accompanied by increasingly strong earthquake swarms.
Eruption history
VEI – Volcanic Explosivity Index: 0 = lava outpouring, 4 = like Eyjafjallajökull 2010, 6 = like Pinatubo 1991, 7 = like Tambora 1815. The scale is logarithmic – each step is about 10 times more material.
| Start | End | VEI | Vent and dating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 September 1538 | 6 October 1538 | 3 | Monte Nuovo · Observations: Reported |
| 1198 | — | 1 | Solfatara · Observations: Reported |
| c. 1,650 BCE | — | 4 | Fossa Lupara (Monte Senga) · Correlation: Tephrochronology |
| 1,870 BCE ± 50 years | — | 4 | Astroni · Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 2,000 BCE ± 150 years | — | 4 | Averno · Correlation: Tephrochronology |
| c. 2,040 BCE | — | 3 | Solfatara · Correlation: Tephrochronology |
| 2,080 BCE ± 75 years | — | 2 | Monte Olibano-Accademia · Correlation: Tephrochronology |
| 2,150 BCE ± 500 years | — | 5 | Agnano Monte Spina · Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 2,220 BCE ± 50 years | — | ? | Eastern NYT caldera · Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 2,330 BCE ± 150 years | — | 3 | Correlation: Tephrochronology |
| c. 2,440 BCE | — | ? | Agnano-Monte Sant'Angelo · Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| c. 2,500 BCE | — | 4 | Cigliano · Correlation: Tephrochronology |
| 2,580 BCE ± 50 years | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 2,890 BCE ± 50 years | — | ? | East part of NYT caldera · Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 6,300 BCE ± 50 years | — | ? | N part of NYT caldera (San Martino) · Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| c. 6,490 BCE | — | 3 | Eastern part of NYT caldera · Correlation: Tephrochronology |
| 6,650 BCE ± 100 years | — | 4 | Fondi di Baia, Sartania · Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 7,590 BCE ± 50 years | — | ? | NE part of NYT caldera · Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 7,980 BCE ± 500 years | — | 3 | Soccavo, Minapoli, Pisani & other vents · Correlation: Tephrochronology |
| 8,480 BCE ± 100 years | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
Data: Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian Institution (#211010) · Wikipedia (pl) · Wikipedia (en)