Potential Magma Source Has Been Identified By Scientists; Possibility To Predict The Eruption Of Italy Supervolcano, New Study Suggests
Recently, researchers have found the first direct evidence of an alleged "hot zone" feeding a supervolcano. It is located in southern Italy. The scientists mentioned that the condition of the said volcano is nearing its eruption.
The Campi Flegrei is volcanic caldera to the west of Naples. The eruption happened centuries ago. Thus, the area has been quiet since the 1980s. However, when an injection happens of either fluids or magma in the shallower structures of the volcano this has the possibility to cause small earthquakes.
The study that was led by Dr. Luca De Siena from the University of Aberdeen together with the INGV Osservatorio Vesuviano, the RISSC lab of the University Of Naples University Of Texas at Austin. Using the seismological techniques, scientists were able to pinpoint the location of the hot zone. It is where the hot materials rose to feed the caldera during this period of time. The researchers provide a benchmark that has the possibility to help predict where and how the future eruptions could strike.
Dr. De Siena said "One question that has puzzled scientists is where magma is located beneath the caldera, and our study provides the first evidence of a hot zone under the city of Pozzuoli that extends into the sea at a depth of 4 km. While this is the most probable location of a small batch of magma, it could also be the heated fluid-filled top of a wider magma chamber, located even deeper," according to Mail Online.
However, the conclusion of the study that has been published in the journal Scientific Reports, are still not fully understood, the relatively low amount of the seismic activity in the area since the 1980s recommends that a pressure is building within the caldera. This makes it more dangerous.
As follows, Dr. De Siena added that whatever that has produced that movements under Pozzuoli in the year 1980s, has migrated somewhere else. Thus, the danger does not just lie in the same spot. "It could now be much nearer to Naples which is more densely populated. This could mean that the threat from the caldera is no longer focused in the center. It has already migrated somewhere else. Indeed, the Campi Flegrei can now be categorized as a boiling pot of soup under the surface, according to Phys.Org.
