U.S.-Italy Cooperative Research: The Campanian Ignimbrite Eruption and Emplacement

该奖项将支持加州大学圣巴巴拉分校的理查德·费舍尔教授与那不勒斯大学的G.Orsi、G.Capaldi和L.Civetta教授合作进行研究。那不勒斯是南欧最大的城市之一，位于年轻(约33,500年)、体积大(大于80立方公里)的火山喷发形成的褐煤岩层上。该坎帕尼亚伊尼姆布里岩(CI)长达100公里。从其可能的来源来看，它是作为一股能量旺盛的火山碎屑流穿过高山山脊而移动的。CI的来源被认为是位于那不勒斯郊区的Phlegrean Fields。研究人员打算(1)建立最初的坎帕尼亚喷发的年代学和化学趋势，该喷发产生了第一个沉积的盖夫拉和褐沸石片层；(2)确定开始喷发的类型(原碎屑和/或水碎岩)和随后的喷发活动；(3)通过研究CI下薄地层的成因来解释流动机制。有必要对这种燃煤进行详细的野外和实验室研究，以揭开它的历史及其对未来活动的预示。如果CI来自海底，这将是第一个被记录的此类褐沸石，将首次有可能表征水下褐沸石的物理和化学属性，并为它们的识别提供岩石学标准。

This award will support Professor Richard Fisher of the University of California at Santa Barbara in a research collaboration with Professors G. Orsi, G. Capaldi, and L. Civetta of the University of Naples. One of southern Europe's great cities, Naples, is located on a young (approximately 33,500 years), large volume (greater than 80 cubic kilometers) ignimbrite sheet resulting from a volcanic eruption. This Campanian Ignimbrite (CI), occurs up to 100 km. from its probable source, having moved as an energetic pyroclastic flow across high mountain ridges. The source of the CI is believed to be in the Phlegrean Fields, located in the Neapolitan suburbs. The researchers intend (1) to establish chronology and chemical trends of the initial Campanian eruption that produced the first-deposited tephra and the ignimbrite sheet; (2) to determine the type of initiating eruption (pryoclastic and/or hydroclastic) and subsequent eruptive activity; and (3) to interpret flow mechanisms by studying the origin of the thin ground layer that occurs beneath the CI. Detailed field and laboratory studies of this ignimbrite are necessary for the purpose of unraveling its history and what that portends for future activity. If the CI originated from beneath the sea, it will be the first such ignimbrite to be documented, and it would be possible for the first time to characterize physical and chemical attributes of subaqueous ignimbrite and provide petrologic criteria for their recognition.