Sulfur at the Solfatara craterView of the crater wall of
Mount Vesuvius, with the city of
Torre del Greco in the background
The Campanian volcanic arc is a
volcanic arc that consists of a number of active, dormant, and extinct volcanoes in the
Campania region of
Italy. The Campanian volcanic arc centers on the bay of
Naples and includes:
Mount Vesuvius: an active volcano that last erupted in 1944.
Phlegraean Fields: a huge, ancient
caldera containing the western area of Naples. The area is a collection of numerous extinct craters that are evidence of ancient eruptions; however, also included in this area is
Solfatara, a shallow volcanic crater still emitting jets of sulfur fumes and, thus, still active.
Ischia: an island 20 kilometres west of Naples, it last erupted in 1302.
Palinuro, Vavilev,
Marsili, and Magnaghi: undersea extinct or dormant volcanoes south of Vesuvius. The last three were discovered in the 1950s and bear the names of the geologists who discovered them. Palinuro was known earlier. As of 2006[update], there was some concern about the state of "dormancy" of Marsili, which is 3,000 meters high with the cone reaching to 500 meters from the surface of the water. Satellite cones of recent origin have been detected on Marsili.
"Campanian volcanic arc" is something of a term of convenience, since the area is part of the same large area of intense volcanic and seismic activity that includes, further to the south, the active island volcanoes of
Stromboli, and
Vulcano off the north coast of
Sicily and even the largest active volcano in Europe,
Mount Etna, on Sicily.
Milia, A. (2006). "Rapid changes of the accommodation space in the Late Quaternari succession of Naples Bay, Italy: the influence of volcanism and tectonics". In DeVivo, Benedetto (ed.). Volcanism in the Campania Plain, Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei and Ignimbrites. et al. Amsterdam:
Elsevier Science.
ISBN978-0444521750.