Phlegraean Fields

About Phlegraean Fields:

• The Phlegraean Fields (also known in Italian as ‘Campi Flegrei’) is an active volcanic area located in the vicinity of Naples, Italy. 
• Unlike the nearby Mount Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei is not characterised by a single volcano. 
• It is more of a volcanic system, with several centres situated within a depressed area called a caldera (essentially a deep sinkhole or cauldron).
  • The caldera has a diameter of about 12-15 km (7.5-9.3 miles).
  • It was formed 39,000 years ago after an eruption emptied it of magma. According to a new hypothesis, this eruption could have been the beginning of the end of the Neanderthal.
  • One-third of it lies under the Tyrrhenian Sea, between the Italian mainland and the country’s island of Sardinia. 
  • It is the largest active caldera in Europe. It is much larger than the cone-shaped Vesuvius, which destroyed the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in AD79, and is much more active.
• Phlegraean Fields has been in a restless state since 1950. It is a result of a phenomenon known as bradyseism, which scientists understand to be the gradual movement of part of Earth’s surface caused by the fillingor emptying of an underground magma chamber or hydrothermal activity.
• It last erupted in 1538, after an interval of about 3000 years. This eruption, although minor in comparison, formed Monte Nuovo, a new mountain.
• Scientists consider Phlegraean Fields to be a supervolcano whose eruptions can have worldwide effects.
• These volcanic fields are among the top eight emitters of volcanic carbon dioxide worldwide.

Q1: What is Magma?

Magma is extremely hot liquid and semi-liquid rock located under Earth’s surface. Earth has a layered structure that consists of the inner core, outer core, mantle, and crust. Much of the planet’s mantle consists of magma. This magma can push through holes or cracks in the crust, causing a volcanic eruption. When magma flows or erupts onto Earth’s surface, it is called lava.

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