The 1538 Monte Nuovo eruption (Campi Flegrei, Italy)

Abstract. On 29 September 1538 a week-long
eruption began in Campi Flegrei forming a new
volcano, Monte Nuovo. From contemporary accounts
of the eruption, it has been possible to reconstruct
the main phases of activity. These
phases may be correlated with different depositional
units identified in the field. The eruption
opened with a hydromagmatic phase, during
which a large amount of external water (meteoric
or sea water) was able to interact with the magma.
The exhaustion of the water supply and decrease
in volatile content initiated a change in the dynamic
conditions of eruption, which became more
purely magmatic in character and less explosive.

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