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BURNING
FIELDS
Complex Igneous Sources Regions in the Mediterranean Area
The Mediterranean area is one of the most complex geodynamic settings. In a comparable smaller area then any other in the world, different tectonic environments are hypnotized to be active today as well as in the past. One of the expressions of this complexity is evident from the extremely variable petrological, geochemical and isotopic composition of the Italian Plio-Quaternary magmatism spanning the vast spectrum of magmatic rocks erupted today. In collaboration with Prof De Vivo (University of Naples) and Dr Ayuso (USGS), I am investigating the geochemical and isotopic (Nd-Sr-Pb) composition variations of the southern Italian volcanic rocks and their bearings on identifying crust and mantle reservoirs, and the possible links between reservoirs composition and geodynamic processes
Magmatism in the Neapolitan Region -
Italy
The city of Naples is located in southern
Italy in volcanologically active region -Campanian Volcanic
Zone - active since 600 ka. The discipline of Volcanology
has its origins in this Zone, and, since then this complex
volcanic area is the test site for volcanological hypothesis
and theories. Lyell based his theory on vertical movements
of the earth surface on the observation of lithodomes (shellfish
holes) in columns of the ancient Roman market ''The Serapeum''
in Pozzuoli (Phlegrean field). A huge pyroclastic deposit,
the '-Campanian Ignimbrite- covers the whole area and its
origin, the role in the volcanological evolution of the Campanian
Volcanic Zone and its relation to the two most recent volcanoes
in the area Mt.Vesuvius and Phlegrean Fields, are still debated.
My research of the magmatism in the Neapolitan
region utilizes melt inclusion (MI) to study the composition
of magmas and their volatiles content prior to eruption. Melt
inclusion (MI) are small aliquots of silicate melt entrapped
in precipitating minerals during magma crystallization. Since
gases dissolved during eruptive ascent are released, MI are
the best source of information on the composition of magmatic
fluids during their transport from depth to the Earth's surface. |
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My research is conducted in collaboration
with
Benedetto
De Vivo
Dipartimento di Geofisica e Vulcanologia
Universitá degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II"
Naples, Italy
RobertA. Ayuso
U.S. Geological Survey
Mail Stop 954, National Center
Reston, Virginia 20192
James
Webster
Earth and Planetary Sciences Department
Chair
Curator of Mineral Deposits
American Museum of Natural History
New York, NY
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When asked what he valued
in his own work, Samuel Backett replied:
"What I don't understand"
(Adam Higgins)
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MAGMA
DYNAMICS & VOLCANOLOGY
Fedele
L., F. Raia, M. Sasada, M. Sasaki, T.Sawaki, and M. Tarzia. 2005.
Fluid Inclusion study on the hydrothermal evolution of the caldera-forming
volcanic systems in the Sengan Area, Northern Honshu, Japan. Mineralogy
and Petrology. 84: 189-213. Abstract
Webster
J.D., F. Raia, C. Tappen, B.De Vivo. 2003 Pre-Eruptive Geochemistry
Of The Ignimbrite-forming magmas of the Campanian Volcanic Zone,
Southern Italy, determined from silicate melt Inclusions, Mineralogy
and Petrology, 79, 99-125.
Abstract
Webster J.D., F. Raia, B. De Vivo and G. Rolandi. 2001 The Behavior
of Chlorine and Sulfur During Differentiation of the Mt. Somma-Vesuvius
Magmatic System. Mineral. Petrol.,73, 177 -2001.Abstract
De Vivo B., Ayuso R. A., Belkin H. E., Fedele L., Lima A., Raia F., Rolandi G., Somma R. and Webster J. D., 2003. Chemistry, fluid/melt inclusions and isotopic data of lavas, tephra and nodules from >25 ka to 1944 A.D. of the Mt. Somma-Vesuvius volcanic activity. Mt. Somma-Vesuvius Geochemical Archive. Dipartimento di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Università di Napoli Federico II, Open File Report 1-2003, pp. 143
Raia
F. , Webster J. D. and De Vivo B , 2000 Preeruptive volatile contents
of Vesuvius magmas: constrains on eruptive history an dbehavior.
I -the medieval and modern interplinian activity.
Eur. J. Mineral.,12, 179 -193. Abstract
Raia
F. and Spera F.J. 1997. Simulation of Crustal Anatexis: Implications
for the Growth and Differenziation of Continental Crust. J. Geophys.
Res., 102, 22629-22648. Abstract |
