Geochemical investigations have shown that there is a considerable inflow of gas into both crater lakes of Monticchio, Southern Italy. These lakes are located in two maars that formed 140 000 years ago during Mt. Vulture volcano’s last eruptive activity. Isotopic analyses suggest that CO2 and helium are of magmatic origin; the latter displays 3He/4He isotope ratios similar to those measured in olivines of the maar ejecta. In spite of the fact that the amount of dissolved gases in the water is less than that found in Lake Nyos (Cameroon), both the results obtained and the historical reports studied indicate that these crater lakes could be highly hazardous sites, even though they are located in a region currently considered inactive. This could be of special significance in very popular tourist areas such as the Monticchio lakes, which are visited by about 30 000 people throughout the summer, for the most part on Sundays.

Two distinct eruptive events characterize the volcanic activity at Mount Etna during the 2002 to 2005 period. We identified signals of magma ascent preceding these eruptions by geochemical monitoring of both chemical composition and He‐isotope ratio of gas emissions from five locations in the peripheral area of the volcano. The geochemical signals are interpreted using the models proposed by Caracausi et al. (2003a, 2003b) and allow identification of episodes of magma ascent and estimation of the pressures of degassing magma. As observed for the 2001 eruption (Caracausi et al., 2003b), magma ascent probably triggered the onset of the 2002–2003 eruption, and minor events of magma ascent were observed between May and December 2003. In contrast to the previous two eruptions, the 2004–2005 eruption was not preceded by significant geochemical signals of volcanic unrest, suggesting that this eruption was mainly triggered by the failure of the upper portion of the volcanic edifice under the magmatic hydrostatic pressure in the conduits. High 3He/4He ratio revealed new volatile‐rich magma accumulation. The 2002–2003 eruption was preceded by a much shorter period of new magma accumulation from deep levels of the feeding system. Few minor signals of magma migration were detected at some of the sites during the months preceding the 2004–2005 eruption, suggesting that the degassed 3He‐depleted magma resident in the volcanic conduits was not replaced by new volatile‐rich magma. This is in agreement with the lack of explosive activity during the 2004–2005 eruption and with petrologic observations that the parent magma probably erupted in 2000 and 2001. New geochemical signals of magma ascent from the deep reservoir have been identified since June 2005, indicating that the volcanic activity of Mount Etna is evolving toward new pre‐eruptive conditions.

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Gas from mud volcanoes, dry mofettes, springs, and wells were sampled in a region of active tectonics and high seismicity in the southern Apennines (Italy), where there is a long history of disastrous earthquakes, with the latest (M s = 6.9) occurring in 1980. The fluids consist of a mixture of mantle-derived and crust-derived volatiles, with a low atmosphere-derived contribution, as identified by the He isotope signature and He/Ne ratio measurements. One year of monthly monitoring of the He concentrations and He isotopes revealed no seasonal modifications or variations induced by low seismicity. There are extraordinary high outputs of 4 He produced in the crust in the area (up to 2.5 × 10 28 atoms yr À1 ). These outputs cannot be solely due to the whole-rock production rate and a long-lasting diffusion degassing through the crust of the produced 4 He. This study explored the relation between the volume of fractured rock and the related release of He. The results support that crustal degassing can be controlled by tectonic events resulting in earthquakes. The high seismicity in this sector of the Apennines provides the conditions necessary for a massive release of He that has accumulated in the rock over a long time period. We identified that the assessed high crustal 4 He output can be attributed to an intense fracturing of a calculable volume of rock, which gives new constraints on the volume of rock involved in high-magnitude earthquakes in the region.