2023-07-09 11:32:24
It’s bubbling underground – and very close to the metropolis of Naples. The coastal town of Pozzuoli has been raised regarding four meters, seismologists are registering thousands of mini-earthquakes and researchers are warning that the dormant supervolcano might erupt. With devastating consequences for the place and even the whole world.
the essentials in brief
The coastal town of Pozzuoli near Naples sits atop a supervolcano and has been raised regarding four meters.
Seismologists register thousands of mini-earthquakes and researchers warn that the dormant supervolcano might erupt.
An eruption would have devastating consequences for the region and even for the Earth’s climate.
Volcanoes are usually known as cone-shaped mountains – on the coast near Naples there is one called Vesuvius. Currently, however, another, rather flat and huge supervolcano with a diameter of regarding twelve to 14 kilometers is worrying – the Campi Flegrei or in English: Phlegraean Fields. Below this level, something is brewing at a depth of regarding three kilometers – the super volcano might eject an eruption mass of at least 1,000 cubic kilometers when it erupts, as the “Tagesspiegel” reports.
Im Video: Under Italy – Europe’s supervolcano might erupt at any time
An eruption would have catastrophic consequences
Beautifully situated – but on dangerous ground: The coastal town of Pozzuoli, regarding 15 kilometers from the metropolis of Naples, is currently making unpleasant headlines. Because the little town is located on the Phlegraean Fields, a huge supervolcano that has been speaking out more and more since its last eruption in 1538. In the last seven decades alone, Pozzuoli has risen by around four meters. Should an outbreak occur, it would have catastrophic consequences for the entire region. The emission of sulfur dioxide and ash might even affect the entire world climate.
Volcanic unrest occurs in the region regarding every ten years. The volcano’s caldera seems to alternately sink and rise – like the abdominal wall when you breathe. A research team from University College London (UCL) together with Italy’s National Research Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) has now paid more attention to the supervolcano. The conclusion is that there is increased activity in the form of countless mini-earthquakes – regarding 600 per month – and escaping steam and gases from volcanic steam vents (fumaroles). Another important finding: the earth’s crust above the magma, otherwise very flexible and elastic, is said to be stretched almost to the point of breaking. It might break or even rupture, as the researchers at “Nature’s Communications Earth & Environment” report.
Fractures and fissures allow magma to rise to the surface more easily
It doesn’t have to be an eruption. Nevertheless, Christopher Kilburn explains, Department of Earth Sciences at University College London (UCL): “Our new study confirms that Campi Flegrei is nearing rupture”. It is even possible that the volcano will get used to the up and down movements. Nevertheless, it must be noted that the maximum stretching capacity of the Campi Flegrei is only a third of the value of 1984. The elasticity decreases drastically. Fractures and fissures would then make it easier for the rising magma to get to the surface.
[…] We have now reached a state that goes beyond the level of the last few decades.
Torsten Dahm, geophysicist from the German Research Center for Geosciences in Potsdam
The “Tagesspiegel” quotes the geophysicist Torsten Dahm from the German Research Center for Geosciences in Potsdam (GFZ): “[…] we have now reached a state that goes beyond the level of the last few decades”. Whether an eruption like 1538 is imminent cannot be said at the moment. “It is possible that such an eruption will occur, but one cannot say that the current phase is a sure sign of it,” said Dahm.
The volcano has entered an unsettled phase
Italian media is currently very upset and interprets the seismic activity as the awakening of the supervolcano. Dahm disagrees. “No, it doesn’t need to wake up, for it has been very active for many centuries, but has now entered a particularly turbulent phase.” However, the result of researchers at ETH Zurich is worrying. They had found that the chemical composition of magma changes over time. Currently, the connection is even said to be similar to the one that is said to have existed before the last major eruptions – an indication that a possible next eruption might also be very large. But when is still unclear.
1688903702
#Europes #largest #supervolcano #lifts #Ort #Italy #meters #high