Northwest of Naples lies the supervolcano Campi Flegrei . In late 2016, an international team of geologists published an alarming study. Despite being inactive for nearly 500 years—its last eruption was in 1538— Campi Flegrei is showing signs of awakening . For those unfamiliar with supervolcanoes, they are simply larger than normal volcanoes, but their destructive capacity is enormous. In fact, Mount Flegrei has been the largest volcano in Europe. If you'd like to learn more about its nature, you can read about the world's supervolcanoes.
The volcano's caldera formed 39.000 years ago, and this was the largest eruption in 200.000 years . Some correlate, although it's not certain and many other theories exist, a link between the eruption of Campi Flegrei and the extinction of Neanderthals. A supervolcano like Campi Flegrei is not just any volcano; these are so large they can collapse in on themselves, creating vast regions of craters, geysers, hydrothermal activity, and sulfuric acid. The Yellowstone volcano in the United States is a good example, and if you want to learn more about this topic, we invite you to read our article on the Yellowstone supervolcano in the United States.
How is it and who have been dedicated to its study?
Campi Flegrei consists of 24 craters and a series of volcanic edifices (most of which are submerged in the Mediterranean Sea). 200.000 years ago , long before the current caldera formed, the volcano erupted . A 2010 study by experts from the University of Chicago states that this event triggered a nuclear winter. With ash blocking sunlight for years, it has been estimated that over 3,7 trillion liters of molten rock were ejected during the eruption, releasing a massive amount of sulfuric acid into the atmosphere. If you want to better understand the concept of a nuclear winter , this study may be of interest.
As stated at that time, Giuseppe de Natale, from the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, that these phenomena are the only ones really comparable to the effects that the fall of a large meteorite could have.
Redondel Rojo, an area of ​​about 12km in diameter. The Yellow Round is Vesuvius
The area it covers is not the typical shape of a volcano , like Vesuvius, located very close to the Campi Flegrei. Instead, it is spread out, with many craters, as we can see in the image. It should also be noted that Vesuvius has been showing signs of increased activity and pressure . We can observe in the circle the land area and the area it occupies within the Mediterranean Sea. For additional information on the volcanology of the peninsula, you can visit our article on volcanoes in Italy.
Until a few months ago, the team of volcanologists from the National Institute of Geophysics, led by Giovanni Chiodini, stated in their study that the pressure of the volcano was reaching its critical point. It's possible that nothing will happen. These types of volcanoes don't have a measurable central cone, and the underground magma within them tends to occupy a larger area. But the signs in the different calderas indicate this. As they point out, its effects could impact the 500.000 people who live in the area. For more details on the potential effects of this activity, you can consult our article on whether Campi Flegrei could become more dangerous.
As the years go by, the activity and pressure increase
Over the past decade, Campi Flegrei has experienced a series of events indicating that gases are rising to the surface at an increasing rate. Italian authorities raised the alert level in 2012 from green to yellow , meaning that activity has been monitored, moving from a period of calm. Do residents need to be evacuated? No. According to Chiodini, it will be necessary to wait and see how things develop and how the caldera behaves. It is premature to predict when, or even if, it will erupt.
For now, yes, there is clear evidence of activity that was not being recorded. The effects of the eruption are truly alarming, leading us to wonder if there could be more volcanic eruptions in a warmer world.
We will continue to be vigilant about future developments. Let's hope the news doesn't go beyond saying that there has been a bit more activity than usual in recent years. Otherwise, we can only imagine the level of catastrophe it could reach through the words of experts who have studied its effects in the past.
