mauro antonio di vito

• BSc
• Senior Researcher at Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia

Plain Language Summary Calderas formed by the collapse of large magma reservoirs after catastrophic eruptions, often undergo extended periods of ground movements, seismicity, and gas emissions. Although extensively studied for their immense eruptive potential, linking these signals to underground magma movements or to a vigorous hydrothermal activi...

Since early 2021, peculiar Volcano-Tectonic (VT) seismic sequences with very short inter-event times have become increasingly frequent and evident in the Campi Flegrei caldera (Italy), which has been experiencing a long-term unrest since 2005. During the same period the ground deformation (uplift), seismicity and gas emission that characterize the...

Calderas are depressions formed by some of the largest volcanic eruptions. Their long-lived inter-eruptive periods are occasionally interrupted by phases of unrest, in which escalating seismicity, ground deformation and gas emissions raise concerns of potential volcano reawakening. However, interpretation of such physico-chemical signals is complic...

Many volcanological and geoarchaeological studies in the ancient city of Pompeii (Italy) have been devoted to the 79 CE Plinian eruption of Vesuvius, which sealed the city under a thick pyroclastic sequence. Only fragmentary information exists regarding the stratigraphy of the volcanic sediments sandwiched between the 79 CE street level and the vol...

In this paper, we provide chronological constraints to reconstruct the Late Middle Pleistocene to Holocene geomorphological, stratigraphical and tectonic evolution of the inner Sarno plain, along the Tyrrhenian flank of Southern Italy. These constraints derive from tephrostratigraphical analysis and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of volcanic deposits, chronologi...

Understanding and managing unrest at a volcano include i) ascertaining the magmatic distribution and migration, and ii) tracking the evolution of the shallow plumbing system. Here we use multi-technique geodetic data, mechanical models, and petrological simulations to define both aspects for the ongoing (2005-present) unrest at Campi Flegrei calder...

A multidisciplinary study, including geomorphological, stratigraphic, paleontological and archaeological methods and techniques, allowed for a detailed exploration of coastal landforms and environments in front of the ancient city of Pompeii (southern Italy). The famous site of Pompeii sits on a small volcanic hill in the alluvial-coastal plain of...

The ancient city of Pompeii, destroyed by the 79 CE Plinian eruption of Vesuvius, is one of the most famous archaeological sites worldwide and an open-air laboratory for many disciplines. The destruction of Pompeii has so far been reconstructed in terms of a succession of volcanic phenomena and related effects, identified as the accumulation of pum...

In this paper we present a new model for the simulation of lahars based on the depth-averaged code IMEX-SfloW2D with new governing and constitutive equations introduced to better describe the dynamics of lahars. A thorough sensitivity analysis is carried out to identify the critical processes (such as erosion and deposition) and parameters (both nu...

In this study we present a novel general methodology for probabilistic volcanic hazard assessment (PVHA) for lahars. We apply the methodology to perform a probabilistic assessment in the Campanian Plain (southern Italy), focusing on syn-eruptive lahars from a reference size eruption from Somma–Vesuvius. We take advantage of new field data relative...

Dense pyroclastic density currents are granular mass flows consisting of a mixture of solid particles and gas, denser than the surrounding atmosphere, which flow down the slopes of a volcano edifice under the action of gravity.They are one of the most hazardous phenomena related to volcanic eruptions and their destructive power is related to their...

Vulcano is one of the seven volcanic islands composing the Aeolian Islands archipelago (Southern Italy), which also includes three other active volcanoes. The island was originally a stratovolcano like Stromboli; afterwards, its shape turned towards a complex structure composed of several volcanic landforms of different sizes. This is due to the gr...

Arguably every eruption or episode of volcanic unrest represents an opportunity to refine our understanding of how volcanoes work, how they can impact society, how to evaluate associated hazards, and how to protect society. Some ‘iconic’ episodes of volcanic activity have spurred notable advances in knowledge, technology and practice. However, the...

13 Lahars represent some of the most dangerous phenomena in volcanic areas for their destructive 14 power, causing dramatic changes in the landscape with no premonitory signs and impacting on 15 population and infrastructures. In this regard, the Campanian Plain turns out to be very prone to the 16 development of these phenomena, since the slopes o...

This study focuses on the changes in diet and mobility of people buried in the La Sassa cave (Latium, Central Italy) during the Copper and Bronze Ages to contribute to the understanding of the complex contemporary population dynamics in Central Italy. To that purpose, carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses, strontium isotope analyses, and FT-I...

The Osservatorio Vesuviano (OV) is the oldest volcano observatory in the world having been founded in 1841 by the King of the Two Sicilies Ferdinand II of Bourbon. The historical building, located on the western slope of Vesuvius, hosts a museum with important collections of remarkable scientific, historical and artistic value, including pioneering...

In this study we present a novel general methodology for Probabilistic Volcanic Hazard Assessment (PVHA) for lahars. We apply the methodology to perform a probabilistic assessment in the Campanian Plain (Southern Italy), focussing on syn-eruptive lahars from a reference-size eruption from Somma-Vesuvius. We take advantage of new field data relative...

In this paper we present a new model for the simulation of lahars, based on the depth-averaged code IMEX-SfloW2D with new governing and constitutive equations introduced to better describe the dynamics of lahars. A thorough sensitivity analysis is carried out to identify the critical processes (such as erosion and deposition) and parameters (both n...

The peninsular and insular Italy are punctuated by Quaternary volcanoes and their rocks constitute an important aliquot of the Italian Quaternary sedimentary successions. Also away from volcanoes itself, volcanic ash layers are a common and frequent feature of the Quaternary records, which provide us with potential relevant stratigraphic and chrono...

The 79 CE eruption of Vesuvius is the first documented Plinian eruption, also famous for the archaeological ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Although much is known regarding the eruption dynamics and magma reservoir, little is known about the reservoir shape and growth, and related ground deformation. Numerical modelling by Finite Element Method w...

Shallow magma transfer is difficult to detect at poorly monitored volcanoes. Magma transfer before the last 1538 eruption at Campi Flegrei caldera (Italy) was exceptionally tracked using historical, archeological, and geological data. Here, we extend that data set to 1650 to uncover any magma transfer during post‐eruptive subsidence. Results show t...

The structural setting of the Ischia resurgent caldera and its magmatic system has been investigated by a joined interpretation of a 3D inversion of previously collected gravimetric data and all the available geological, geophysical and petrological data. Starting from the available Bouguer gravity map of the Neapolitan volcanic area and a previous...

Assessing the variations in space and time of groundwater circulation in volcanic islands is of paramount importance to the description of the hydro-geo-thermal system and implementation of hydrogeological, geochemical, and volcanic monitoring systems. In fact, the reliable reconstruction of the groundwater potentiometric surface in such composite...

Volcaniclastic debris flows are generated when a mixture of loose pyroclastic deposits and water flow down slopes, very commonly after intense and/or prolonged rainfall. These phenomena represent a short and a long-term hazard since they induce dramatic changes in the territory and affect population and infrastructures. This is the case of the area...

A full review of the 79 CE Plinian eruption of Vesuvius is presented through a multidisciplinary approach, exploiting the integration of historical, stratigraphic, sedimentological, petrological, geophysical, paleoclimatic, and modelling studies dedicated to this famous and devastating natural event. All studies have critically been reviewed and in...

Volcaniclastic debris flows are hazardous natural phenomena that occur when a mixture of loose pyroclastic fallout and current deposits and water flow down slopes, very commonly after intense and/or prolonged rainfall (Sulpizio et al., 2006 and references therein). These phenomena represent a short and a long-term hazard in all the circumvolcanic a...

The paper aims at merging the first results from the analyses of the georesources exploited in the site of Piano dei Cardoni (Ustica island, Italy) during the Neolithic phases of its occupation (Middle-Late Neolithic, 4.7-4.2 ka cal BC). Grinding tools consist of a very varied typology of local volcanic rocks, easy to collect and available very clo...

Archaeological and volcanological studies have revealed that eruptions of Neapolitan volcanoes have conditioned human settlement patterns since prehistoric times. The occurrence of high intensity explosive eruptions, interspersed with long periods of quiescence, has characterized the last 10 ka of activity of these volcanoes. Geoarchaeological stud...

This special issue of Annals of Geophysics entitled: “When Volcanologists Meet Archaeologists and Other Disciplines: Relationships Between Eruptions and Human Communities” originates from a session (S13) of the Rittmann International Conference which took place in Catania on February 13th 2020, having as its main theme the history of volcanology an...

A room in the Archaeological Museum of Villa Arbusto (Lacco Ameno, Ischia) was set up to house rocks and fossils collected by the renowned archaeologist Giorgio Buchner during his excavation activity on the Island of Ischia. The collection is witness to a long multidisciplinary research activity that saw archaeological studies at the center of volc...

The Campi Flegrei volcano (or Phlegraean Fields), Campania, Italy, generated the largest eruption in Europe in at least 200 ka. Here we summarise the volcanic and human history of Campi Flegrei and discuss the interactions between humans and the environment within the “burning fields” from around 10,000 years until the 1538 CE Monte Nuovo eruption...

The mobility patterns in the Italian peninsula during prehistory are still relatively unknown. The excavation of the Copper Age and Bronze Age deposits in La Sassa cave (Sonnino, Italy) allowed to broaden the knowledge about some local and regional dynamics. We employed a multi-disciplinary approach, including stable (carbon and nitrogen, C and N,...

The magnitude and intensity of the 60 CE Cretaio Tephra, the largest historical explosive eruption at Ischia caldera (Italy), was studied integrating field data and numerical modelling in order to reconstruct the dispersal of the fallout related to the climax phase of the eruption and characterize its physical parameters. A field survey of the main...

The Solfatara volcano in the Campi Flegrei caldera (Italy), is monitored by different, permanent ground networks handled by INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia), including thermal infrared cameras (TIRNet). The TIRNet network is composed by five stations equipped with FLIR A645SC or A655SC thermal cameras acquiring at nightime infr...

Following on the discovery (in 2011) of a layer of distal tephra from the Pomici di Avellino eruption (Somma-Vesuvius, EU5) in the Agro Pontino (southern Lazio, Italy), further detailed study of the Holocene sediment archives in this graben and in the nearby Fondi coastal basin showed that distal tephra from this EU5 eruption occurs as a rather con...

Recent strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) analyses of bones and teeth have provided useful archeological results for reconstructing past human migration and diet. We report 87Sr/86Sr ratios and DNA analyses of tooth enamel from individuals buried in some necropolises in Nola town, near Napoli (Campania, South Italy). These individuals lived in the perio...

The analysis of local volcanic lithologies used for manufacturing Neolithic lithic tools from Piano dei Cardoni (Ustica) is presented, together with the classificaton and provenance of the conspicuous record of nonlocal obsidian tools. Exploitaton of the territory and use of local and/or imported resources from other volcanic/not volcanic areas has...

Plain Language Summary Seismic events that take place in volcanic areas are influenced by multiple volcanic processes, so seismicity is difficult to forecast. Sometimes seismicity may follow a recurrent behavior in time and mechanism. Therefore, understanding the main processes active at volcanoes may help to understand the causes of seismicity and...

The Ischia island (Italy) is largely occupied by a resurgent caldera characterized by one of the highest uplift of its floor ever recognized, that is in the order of 1000 m over at least 55-33 ka. This process produced an asymmetric fault-bounded block, whose northern side experienced several shallow (< 2 km depth) and destructive earthquakes in 18...

Newsletter - Brains2Islands - n.1

Earlier studies on Holocene fills of upland lakes (Lago Forano and Fontana Manca) in northern Calabria, Italy, showed that these hold important palaeoecological archives, which however remained poorly dated. Their time frame is improved by new ¹⁴C dates on plant remains from new cores. Existing pollen data are reinterpreted, using this new time fra...

Corrigendum

Focusing on subsidence processes associated with anthropogenic activities, the Italian Ministry of Economic Development (MISE) has defined some general guidelines to monitor hydrocarbon activities in areas with high seismic and hydrogeological risk. One of the main goals of these guidelines was to establish the main procedures to analyze the spatia...

Ischia is a densely populated active resurgent caldera home to c. 50,000 inhabitants and located few tens of kilometres from Napoli city (Italy), therefore the volcanic hazard assessment is a primary objective. The knowledge of the volcanic past behaviour and the definition of its present state are essential to define the hazard assessment at this...

Re-examination of central Mediterranean paleoclimate archives on tephra layers indicates that three widely dispersed tephra layers occurred during the Bronze Age, namely Agnano Mt Spina from Campi Flegrei (ca. 4.4 cal ka BP), Avellino from Somma-Vesuvius (ca. 3.9 cal ka BP), and FL from Etna (ca. 3.3 cal ka BP). Stratigraphical correlations of sele...

The Pomici di Avellino eruption is the Plinian event of Vesuvius with the highest territorial impact. It affected an area densely inhabited by Early Bronze Age human communities and resulted in the long-term abandonment of an extensive zone surrounding the volcano. Traces of human life beneath the eruption products are very common throughout the Ca...

A lithoid tuff, found in 2011 (Ricci pit, Agro Pontino, Southern Lazio, Italy), was studied for its composition, origin and palaeogeographical implications. This tuff was the first occurrence of a Würmian-age tephra layer, encountered in the coastal basins of Southern Lazio. Based on its mineralogy and isotopic composition (Sr and Nd), it was ident...

We present the results of a statistical study on tephra dispersal in the case of a reactivation of the Campi Flegrei volcano. To represent the spectrum of possible eruptive sizes, four classes of eruptions were considered. Excluding the lava emission, three classes are explosive (Small, Medium, and Large) and can produce a significant quantity of v...

Archaeological excavations, undertaken since 2004 for the construction of the new Naples subway, have unearthed the harbor basin of the Greco–Roman town of Parthenope–Neapolis, furnishing scientists with the opportunity to recover abundant archaeological remains and a thick succession of diverse infill sediments. The latter underwent sedimentologic...

In this work we use fractal statistics in order to decipher the mechanisms acting during explosive volcanic eruptions by studying the grain size distribution (GSD) of natural pyroclastic-fall deposits. The method was applied to lithic-rich proximal deposits from a stratigraphic section of the Cretaio Tephra eruption (Ischia Island, Italy). Analyses...

Archaeological excavations over the last 40 years in Campania (southern Italy) confirm intense human occupation since the early Bronze Age (EBA). A pedological analysis of a ∼9mdeep pedostratigraphic sequence at Palma Campania (Naples) provides insights into fertility, rates of soil formation, and environmental conditions over the past 10 kyr. Four...

The 501 m deep hole of the Campi Flegrei Deep Drilling Project, located west of the Naples metropolitan area and inside the Campi Flegrei caldera, gives new insight to reconstruct the volcano-tectonic evolution of this highly populated volcano. It is one of the highest risk volcanic areas in the world, but its tectonic structure, eruptive history,...

Pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) are extremely dangerous phenomena so their modeling is essential for haz­ard and risk purposes. However, PDCs are governed by very complex processes, making their deterministic prediction impossible. Probabilistic approaches are in a pioneering phase and feature large (and still unknown) uncertainties, from the n...

Pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) are gravity-driven hot mixtures of gas and volcanic particles which can propagate at high speed and cover distances up to several tens of kilometers around a given volcano. Therefore, they pose a severe hazard to the surroundings of explosive volcanoes able to produce such phenomena. Despite this threat, probabil...

The ongoing unrest at the Campi Flegrei caldera (CFc) in southern Italy is prompting exploration of its poorly studied offshore sector. We report on a multidisciplinary investigation of the Secca delle Fumose (SdF), a submarine relief known since antiquity as the largest degassing structure of the offshore sector of CFc. We combined high-resolution...

Calderas are collapse structures related to the emptying of magmatic reservoirs, often associated with large eruptions from long-lived magmatic systems. Understanding how magma is transferred from a magma reservoir to the surface before eruptions is a major challenge. Here we exploit the historical, archaeological and geological record of Campi Fle...

Pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) are extremely dangerous phenomena so their modeling is essential for hazard and risk purposes. However, PDCs are governed by very complex processes, making their deterministic prediction impossible. Probabilistic approaches are in a pioneering phase and feature large (and still unknown) uncertainties, from the na...

This work arises from the field observations made during the civil protection emergency period connected to the 2007 Stromboli eruption. We observed changes in the shallow feeding system of the volcano to which we give a volcanological interpretation and the relative implications. Here we describe the processes occurred in the upper feeding system...

Despite the growing understanding of the physical processes before and during volcanic eruptions, type of eruptive activity still remains highly unpredictable, and an enhanced knowledge on the topic is required for hazard assessment and risk mitigation. The principles of fractal theory has had a strong influence on the understanding of many geologi...

Pyroclastic Density Currents (PDCs) stand as a double-edged issue as regards Probabilistic Volcanic Hazard Assessment. On the one hand, they are the most dangerous physical process that can occur during an explosive eruption. On the other hand, their intrinsic complexity tends to hinder probabilistic analyses since the large aleatory and epistemic...

The purpose of this work is to identify the guidelines for the development and diversification of the cultural touristic offer achievable at the Reale Osservatorio Vesuviano (ROV). Founded in 1841, it is the oldest volcano observatory in the world and it has always had the vocation for scientific-naturalistic and formative tourism. The present stud...

The Reale Osservatorio Vesuviano (ROV), historical building of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), is located on the Vesuvius slopes, the famous Italian volcano. The ROV, since its founding in 1841 by the Bourbon King of Naples, has always been an attractor for scholars and visitors from all over the world, also due to the ce...

Probabilistic hazard assessment is a rather juvenile branch in modern volcanology. Pushed by global increasing in exposure to volcanic hazards and the complex dynamics of decision-making praxis, the scientific community is trying to delineate plausible hazard footprints in terms of probabilities and uncertainties involved. Pyroclastic Density Curre...

Sin dalla metà del XVIII secolo, con l’inizio di grandi campagne di scavo eseguite in varie parti del mondo, l’archeologia ebbe un grande impulso nello studio sistematico delle civiltà antiche ed in particolare di quelle di epoca romana. Gli scavi di Pompei ed Ercolano, iniziati sotto il dominio di Carlo III di Borbone, risultano infatti essere la...

In this study, we describe two experiments of seismic noise measurements carried out in Naples, Italy. The site allowed measurements to be obtained both at the surface and in a tunnel that is 120-m-deep. The main goal was to compare the seismic response evaluated at the surface to the in-tunnel response, through spectral, polarization, and resonanc...

The Campi Flegrei caldera in southern Italy is one of the greatest geohazard areas on Earth. Evidence of an active magmatic and geothermal system is provided by ongoing ground uplift, with volcano-tectonic and longperiod (LP) seismicity, the persistent degassing of ~1500 tonnes of CO2 per day, the presence of hot fumaroles at temperatures of 90–150...

The island of Ischia, located in the Eastern side of the Gulf of Naples in Southern Italy, is a densely inhabited and highly touristic active volcano, characterized by effusive and explosive eruptions alternating with quiescent periods. The island undergoes a mechanism of caldera resurgence, and recent volcanic activity has been clearly influenced...

Archaeological and volcanological studies conducted in the Naples area have revealed that numerous high-intensity explosive eruptions that occurred in the past 10 ka caused damage and victims in the human communities living in the plain surrounding the Neapolitan volcanoes. These catastrophic events were interspersed by hundred to thousand year lon...

The island of Ischia is an active volcanic field, whose activity dates back to more than 150 ka. From Neolithic times it experienced a complex history of human colonization and volcanic eruptions that destroyed settlements and drove away the population. Recent archaeological and volcanological research has demonstrated that humans have periodically...

New data on the ancient landscape of Naples (southern Italy) during the middle and late Holocene from geo-archaeological excavations associated with public transport works were used to reconstruct the hill and coastal environment to the west of the ancient Graeco-Roman polls, where remains of human settlements date to the late Neolithic. The rich s...

This paper presents the results of an investigation carried out on young volcanic rocks from the Gedemsa and Fanta 'Ale complexes, located in the Main Ethiopian Rift, the site of an intense magmatism since Eocene–Oligocene. The earlier NW–SE direction of extension of the Rift, which generated NE–SW trending faults, rotated around E–W in Quaternary...

A brief summary of the activities carried out on 20th October 2012 at the Vesuvius Observatory Museum for the Geoevent of Planet Earth Week, "Discovering Volcanoes", sponsored by AIQUA.

A brief summary of the activities carried out during the AIQUA 2013 Summer School held from the 27th to 31st May 2013 at the Vesuvius Observatory. The course provided an opportunity for students and researchers from different academic backgrounds to present and discuss topics of great scientific and human interest concerning the impact of volcanic...

The joint application of different seismological techniques for seismic noise analysis, and the results of a volcanological and morphostructural survey, have allowed us to obtain a detailed and well constrained image of the shallow crustal structure of the Solfatara volcano (Campi Flegrei caldera, Italy). Horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios, inv...

Mineral systems generally develop around the deep root of the volcanoes down to the degassing magma chamber due the selective enrichment process of elements within the host-rock. The mineralization process depends on i) volcanic structure, ii) magma and fluid chemistry, iii) host-rock type and texture, iv) temperature and pressure conditions, and v...