The Breccia Museo is one of the most debated volcanic formations of the Campi Flegrei volcanic district. The deposit, made up of six distinctive stratigraphic units, has been interpreted by some as the proximal facies of the major caldera-forming Campanian Ignimbrite eruption, and by others as the product of several, more recent, independent and localized events. New geochemical and chemostratigraphical data and Ar-Ar age determinations for several units of the Breccia Museo deposits (~39 ka), correlate well with the Campanian Ignimbrite-forming eruption. The chemical zoning of the Breccia Museo deposits is interpreted here to be a consequence of a three-stage event that tapped a vertically zoned trachytic magma chamber.

Major and trace element analyses plus six new 40Ar/39Ar data obtained on feldspar separates for selected igneous rocks belonging to the Oligo‐Miocene igneous activity of Sardinia are reported here. The rocks show “subduction‐related” geochemical characteristics, ascribed to the metasomatic modification of a mantle wedge developed above a W/NW directed subduction system involving the recycling of Neo‐Tethyan oceanic lithosphere beneath the southern European margin. The 40Ar/39Ar data shift back the beginning of the igneous activity in Sardinia to late Eocene (38.28 ± 0.26 Ma), whereas the end of the igneous activity is possibly shifted forward to late middle Miocene (12.24 ± 0.98 Ma). We therefore propose to rename the Oligo‐Miocene igneous phase as the “late Eocene–middle Miocene” phase. Rare earth element inversion modeling on subduction‐related volcanic rocks of Sardinia requires equilibrium with spinel‐lherzolite facies, therefore implying depths of formation lower than ∼80 km. To reach these depths, a 45° dipping slab needs ∼11 to ∼4 Myr (with 1 to 3 cm/yr subduction velocity, respectively), reducing the beginning of Apennine subduction to the ∼49–42 Ma interval. The different models proposed in literature to explain the origin and the evolution of the central western Mediterranean basins are here reviewed and critically discussed.

Abstract. The lava domes in the northwestern (Cuma), northern (Punta Marmolite) and central (Accademia) parts of the Phlegrean Fields are the subject of this study. The Cuma and Punta Marmolite trachyphonolitic lava domes are among the oldest Phlegrean products cropping out. The Cuma rocks have an agpaitic groundmass, with early alkali feldspar, Fe-rich clinopyroxene, Fe-edenite and sodalite and late rosenbuschite, fluorite, baddeleyite, pyrochlore, britholite, monazite, aegirine (often Zr-rich) and exceptionally Fe–Mn-rich olivine. The bulk-rock compositions at Cuma have some of the highest concentrations of Zn, Mn, Zr, Nb, Th, U and lanthanides among the Phlegrean Fields rocks, and some of the lowest MgO, P2O5, Sr, Eu and Ba. The Punta Marmolite dome is chemically less evolved, and lacks characteristic agpaitic minerals, but features alkali feldspar, sodalite, nepheline and relatively Na-poor, Fe-rich hedenbergite, with rare Ca-rich plagioclase xenocryst cores. The Accademia dome, belonging to the recent activity, is latitic to trachytic in composition, has highly forsteritic olivine (with chromiferous spinel inclusions), calcic plagioclase and Mg-rich diopside (± phlogopite) xenocrysts in an evolved host rock (with phenocrysts and microlites of alkali feldspar, Fe-rich clinopyroxene, Fe-rich amphibole, magnetite, Fe-rich olivine and accessory baddeleyite, zirconolite and fluorite). There is clear evidence of open-system magma crystallization in the form of interaction between a crystallizing, primitive shoshonitic basalt in a reservoir already filled by rather evolved trachytic magma. The magmatic evolution towards the evolved compositions is dominated by crystallization of more and more Na-rich alkali feldspar in a Cl-, F-rich and relatively H2O-poor environment. Input of mafic magma is evident in many trachytic eruptions of the Phlegrean Fields and even in the products of the Campanian Ignimbrite, but eruptions having mineral assemblages rich in xenocryst phases as well as eruptions virtually free of mafic magma input are also frequently observed throughout the history. This suggests a variable pattern of open- and closed-system crystallization, which may or may not be linked to explosive activity, and that can be caused by intermittent supply of basaltic magma from depth

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Partitioning behavior of Sc, Ti, V, Mn, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Ba, La, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Ho, Yb, Hf, and Pb between dacitic silicate melt and clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, and plagioclase has been determined based on laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric (LA-ICPMS) analysis of melt inclusions and the immediately adjacent host mineral. Samples from the 1988 eruption of White Island, New Zealand were selected because petrographic evidence suggests that all three mineral phases are in equilibrium with each other and with the melt inclusions. All three phenocryst types are found as mineral inclusions within each of the other phases, and mineral inclusions often coexist with melt inclusions in growth-zone assemblages. Compositions of melt inclusions do not vary between the different host minerals, suggesting that boundary layer processes did not affect compositions of melt inclusions and that post-trapping modifications have not occurred.Partition coefficients were calculated from the host and melt inclusion compositions and results were compared to published values. All trace elements examined in this study except Sr are incompatible in plagioclase, and all measured trace elements except for Mn are incompatible in orthopyroxene. In clinopyroxene, Sc, V, and Mn are compatible, and Y, Ti, HREE, and the MREE are only slightly incompatible. Most partition coefficients overlap the wide range of values reported in the literature, but the White Island data are consistently at the lower end of the range in published values. Results from the literature obtained using modern microanalytical techniques such as secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) or proton induced X-ray emission spectroscopy (PIXE) also fall at the lower end of the published values, whereas partition coefficients determined from bulk analysis of glass and crystals separated from volcanic rocks typically extend to higher values. Rapid crystal growth-rates, crystal zonation, or the presence of accessory mineral inclusions in phenocrysts likely accounts for the wide range and generally higher partition coefficients obtained using bulk sampling techniques. The results for 3+ cations from this study are consistent with theoretical predictions based on a lattice strain model for site occupancy. The results also confirm that the melt inclusion-mineral (MIM) technique is a reliable method for determining partition coefficients, as long as the melt inclusions have not experienced post-entrapment reequilibration.

Abstract. The Campi Flegrei hosts numerous monogenetic vents inferred to be younger than the 15 ka Neapolitan Yellow Tuff. Sanidine crystals from the three young Campi Flegrei vents of Fondi di Baia, Bacoli and Nisida were dated using 40Ar/39Ar geochronology. These vents, together with several other young edifices, occur roughly along the inner border of the Campi Flegrei caldera, suggesting that the volcanic conduits are controlled by caldera-bounding faults. Plateau ages of ∼9.6 ka (Fondi di Baia), ∼8.6 ka (Bacoli) and ∼3.9 ka (Nisida) indicate eruptive activity during intervals previously interpreted as quiescent. A critical revision, involving calendar age correction of literature 14C data and available 40Ar/39Ar age data, is presented. A new reference chronostratigraphic framework for Holocene Phlegrean activity, which significantly differs from the previously adopted ones, is proposed. This has important implications for understanding the Campi Flegrei eruptive history and, ultimately, for the evaluation of related volcanic risk and hazard, for which the inferred history of its recent activity is generally taken into account

Origin and evolution of Cenozoic magmatism of Sardinia (Italy). A combined isotopic (Sr-Nd-Pb-O-Hf-Os) and petrological view, LITHOS (2013), doi: 10.1016/j.lithos.2013.08.022 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT