Volcanism in the Southern Apennines and Sicily

Abstract

During the Quaternary, volcanism in Italy has been concentrated in at least five distinct settings: (1) the northernmost, extending from southern Tuscany to Basilicata, which includes the Alban Hills south of Rome, Vesuvius, the Campi Flegrei caldera, and the isolated Mt Vulture volcano; (2) the Tyrrhenian oceanic basin; (3) the Aeolian island arc; (4) eastern Sicily with Etna and the Hyblean plateau; and (5) the submarine and emerged volcanoes in the Strait of Sicily. Some of these areas are analyzed here mainly regarding their volcanic histories and character of volcanic activity, emphasizing the notable diversity of Italian volcanoes rather than giving comprehensive descriptions of all volcanic areas in Italy (Fig. 9.1). Whereas the geodynamic context of Italian magmatism is discussed in much detail by Serri et al. (this vol., Ch. 8), only brief summaries of the various recent hypotheses regarding the tectonic settings of these volcanoes will be given here.

The sections about the Hyblean plateau and the Strait of Sicily were written in collaboration with M. Grasso (Catania).