STRATEGY

Advanced monitoring networks have improved our ability to measure changes of a volcanic system before, during and after an eruption. However, it remains challenging to relate the monitoring signals to magma movement from deep reservoirs towards the surface. This is particularly true in the case of calderas in which volcanic unrests can be due to magma transfer, changes in the shallow hydrothermal system, tectonic processes, or a combination of them. Furthermore, magmatic unrests can result in an eruption or not, depending on the amount, location, and velocity of magma ascent possibly through a complex network of dykes and sills. Thus understanding the nature of unrest is critical for forecasting its short-term evolution and is frequently subject of scientific debate, even at well-monitored caldera systems. 
The current state of Campi Flegrei caldera (Italy) is a typical example of this behavior as it has been experiencing a long-lasting unrest at least since 2000-2005, as testified by the multiparametric data collected by the INGV-NA monitoring system. However, its possible evolution towards critical conditions close to eruption remains largely debated in the recent literature.
LOVE-CF project points to improve our ability to forecast the behavior of the Campi Flegrei caldera through a multi-disciplinary research based on a combination of volcanological, petrological, geochemical, seismological and geodetic observations as well as experiments and numerical models. We aim at reconstructing a comprehensive view of the architecture and the dynamics of the plumbing system through the investigation of representative past events, as framework to interpret geochemical and geophysical changes observed during unrests. This will allow us to better evaluate the source of volcanic unrest (magmatic or not magmatic) and to forecast its possible evolution towards an eruption.